#baring my teeth at season 12

[babyjapril]

12.06//12.23

[slytherizz]

I love Vermont but it's the season of the WIPs

WIP tag game! Rules: Make a new post and post the latest WIP & tag as many people as there are words (or as many as you feel like).

Thanks for the tag @avalynlestrange 💕

Apoligies for the WIP dump ahead.

I have so many that will probably never see the light of day, so I wanted to let the drabble finally escape my notes app.

I also included some rough drafts I had for alternate perspective scenes I wrote for 'In the Shadow of Us' that sort of just existed in the void of my mind...

No pressure tags: @sebswebs @sebastianswallows @margottheviking @diligentcranberry @xantineverdoer @killedbythehuntress @monismateos @gwendolyn-foxworth (I'd love to see your wips)

Wip one: dark!mc x auror!seb

It wasn't as if one day the wind shifted and suddenly the girl he knew wasn't there anymore. She hadn't walked into a catacomb or that final battle for the repository, and what emerged from the flames was something new forged in blood.

It had been a staggered, uneven descent - like she'd lost her footing on rain-slicked grass, tripping downhill before submitting to the inevitable fall.

Sebastian hadn't seen her slip and wasn't there to catch her. Or perhaps subconsciously he had. But he'd squeezed his eyes shut rather than admit it.

He certainly hadn't wanted to when the girl who blushed, when his knuckles so much brushed hers, who he hadn't shared more than a kiss with appeared on his doorstep; eyes burning with desire. Locked away his doubts when she pushed into his London flat. Let her strip him of his clothes, and he hers. Wrapping herself around him, lusful, desperate. He'd whispered silent thanks to forgotten God's that night. Never thought her to be so bold. He'd seen what he wanted to - A beautiful girl plucking up the courage to take what she wanted.

If he'd been looking, he may have realised it was somewhere in a series of misteps in a pattern he blissfully ignored. He'd been thinking with his cock. Blinded to the truth by desire.

Or perhaps more dangerously, when the fog of lust had cleared and he'd woken the next morning to her curled up in his bed like she belonged there, with his heart.

Wip two: dark!mc x auror!seb

She was pretty enough he supposed in a homely sort of way. Petite with neat shouder length hair. Her dress was old-fashioned and unflattering, and comparatively to the other witches that frequented such an establishment, she would be considered dowdy.

If it wasn't for her eyes. Keen and alert. As if beneath the sheep-like exterior lurked something dangerous, he would have overlooked her too.

To even the keenest observer it wouldn't look like Sebastian had any particular tastes when it came to women. Much to his own displeasure the qualities that drew him in were rarely merely asthetic.

A tinkling laugh like wind chimes in a summer breeze, a smile so wide it unnerved and bore all their teeth, a displeased wrinkle of the nose, a nervous worrying of a bottom lip. Tonight, it was keen and dangerous eyes that reminded him of her.

They shared no other similarities, and Sebastian could tell, from her well manicured nails and unblemished skin bar a pale line around her finger where he supposed an engagement ring would usually sit, this was no fighter.

This was a proper young lady, who'd wandered onto the wrong side of town looking for a sensible amount of trouble as her wedding day loomed over her like a dark cloud.

As if he had screamed his thoughts at her across the crowded tavern, her eyes flicked their attention to him. Raking over him. Predatory. Hungry. In a way that made his mouth go dry and his blood rush south.

Wip three: Traitor

(MC perspective chapter 12 'In the Shadow of Us')

It was like looking at an imitation of him. A crudely drawn picture, composed from secrets as they'd gotten twisted down the grapevine. Until what was left of him was barely a shadow of the boy she'd sent away.

He may no longer be malnourished and gaunt, she'd made sure of that, but he was still so hollow. Sickly pale and his freckles so faded she could barely make them out.

But his eyes were the same. Look at his eyes, she told herself.

Soft brown, like the sodden earth after a summer storm. But they were no longer gentle. She couldn't get lost in his irises as she once had when he gazed at her so tenderly it felt like a caress.

Not with how they narrowed, the almond edges creasing harshly when he looked at her now. No trace of a spark in them any longer.

She gripped the edge of the basin.

'You hate him. He's cruel. He's not your Sebastian.' She reminded herself. He's a stranger wearing the skin of the man you love.

And whose fault is that?

Yours.

She'd executed the man she loved. Strung him out when he trusted her most - let the vultures pick at his corpse after she'd dragged it through the streets in a public execution.

He was not hers Sebastian any longer, but she saw glimmers of him creeping out.

In the way, a roguish grin would spread over his face when he duelled.

The way he rubbed his bright eyes when he poured over the research, huffing as if it was a labour but the air around him lightened, betraying how much he loved it.

When he touched her and it felt like fire on her skin. The way he looked at her hungrily and she felt like the most desirable woman in the world...

Her fingers smoothed over the violet bruising that decorated the delicate skin of her throat. She wished they were Azkaban tattoos and that he didn't have them. He'd marked her as his and she couldn't bare the thought of healing them; as tender and raw as they were to the touch it made her wince.

She sighed, slipping her wand from the holster fastened to her arm and reluctantly she began glamouring each one. Watching them fade from view. But she could still feel them etched into her skin. Still smell the alluring scent of willow trees and cedar on her skin. Like she'd taken a tumble through a forest and not a bed.

"Don't cry," she begged her reflection, deep calming breaths in through her nose. "You shouldn't have done it. What did you think would happen, you silly cow."

What had she expected? That she could erase the past 5 years. That he'd wake up and her Sebastian would be back. That she could spread her legs and make him love her.

Her own naivety was almost laughable.

She was taking advantage of him. He's vulnerable, he's suffered so much and now what? She thought shagging him could fix how she betrayed him? How could he love someone so foolish to think one night together would fix everything.

He said it himself; it was the only thing she was good for.

No use wallowing in self pity. She was angry at herself mostly. He had no way of knowing the lengths she'd gone to for him. That she was good for far more than what he gave her credit for. It made her angry, irrationally so. She was the monster he made her, a person she'd never wanted to be - let him believe her vile and traitorous, let the anger swell in her heart, maybe it would hurt less to be every vile thing he thought of her.

She said she'd be anything he needed. What she hadn't expected was for it to be this hard. She thought she'd do it gladly. That the guilt would be enough and she wouldn't fight him on it.

But it wasn't and she was angry.

And all she wanted was her Sebastian back. Not this imposter.

But her Sebastian wouldn't want her. Her Sebastian would do anything for her. Had killed for her.

And he wouldn't want someone this bitter, angry and damaged. She wasn't as strong as she used to be. She wasn't the girl he remembered.

Maybe this Sebastian was perfect for her.

It's what she deserved. Someone who was as broken as she was. She couldn't be angry at him for that, she had done this to him. But it didn't stop her from wanting him back.

"I miss you. Please come back to me."

Stupid girl. Talking too the ghosts of him again as she always did. Like the flesh and blood and beating heart of him wasn't twenty paces away. Seething. Stewing on what she'd done to him.

She hated him so much because she loved him. Even now. Even this version of him. Bitter and broken.

She wouldn't let him see her cry. What right did she have to cry when she'd stolen the light from his lovely brown eyes.

Lovely brown eyes that made her stomach twist in knots. That looked at her like a traitor even when his hand was between her legs.

'Look at me I want you to know it's me who does this to you.'

Like it could be anyone else like she'd ever imagined anyone else touching her. Even when she'd tried. Even when she'd been courted by another man and tried to imagine what he would look like between her legs. What kind of flush would stain his skin? But even in her fantasies, the flush crept over freckled cheeks.

If it didn't feel so unnatural not to just sink into his embrace she thought she would kiss Sebastian with her eyes wide open. Drink him in.

When the last of the bruises disapeared she put her wand away. Pulling out the vial in her pocket. Rather unotthadox but she kept it fastened and corked but with her always. The cork popped as she pulled out the stopper.

Pepper imps. Brazier smoke. Dark magic. Willow trees.

The scent both soothed her like a balm-and inexplicably made her heat pang.

Poppy said hers had changed a few times but hadn't since about three months after she met Joe. Garreth's changed with every new concoction he was trying to perfect. Imelda said she never bothered it was cheaper just to buy her favourite broom polish than waste her galleons brewing amortentia.

Hers had never changed. Never wavered in six years since the first time she'd smelt it. Always pepper imps, brazzier smoke, dark magic and willow trees.

Beautiful, deeply intoxicating and forbidden. As if the scent alone could conjure deep brown eyes and freckles.

She gripped the basin tighter and poured the contents down the drain. Cursing her heart for being just as traitorous as she was.

Wip five: Bludgered

This one is actually almost finished and I'll hopefully post in the next few weeks (sorry I'm so behind on this one-shot. Thanks for being so patient with me @monismateos)

“What the hell were you playing at? Was killing your girlfriend really less important than losing a bloody game or has too many bludgers to the head rendered you a feckless moron?”

“It’s part of the game, Sallow. She knew what she signed up for.”

“That’s bollocks and you know it.”

“Bludgers are an occupational hazard.”

“Couldn’t stand the fact she’s a better player than you - Is that it? Gryffindor chivalry my arse!”

“Unlike you, I'm not that insecure," Cooper blustered "I would have done the same to anyone else.”

“But she’s not just anyone else,” Sebastian shouted incredulously. Anger was pooling in his gut, ripping through him at the thought of Cooper or anyone daring to think so little of her. “She’s your girlfriend!”

Cooper scoffed and his eyes raked down Sebastian. Sizing him up for all he was worth. The two men stepped towards each other.

Never one to back down, Sebastian squared his shoulders in challenge. Cooper wasn’t much taller than Sebastian and certainly not as broad but he used every last inch to stare down his nose at him with a mocking sneer.

“Exactly. She’s my girlfriend. Not yours.” 

“I know that-”

“Do you?” he chortled. “Some of us were starting to think you were as thick as you are pathetic.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sebastian spoke through gritted teeth, acutely aware of the heat rising in his face staining his ears pink. 

“It’s fucking embarrassing,” Cooper continued. “The way you carry on after her. Dragging her to the library every night, sending her owls - You don’t even like Quidditch! But here you are. At her beck and call like a love-sick cruppy-”

“I’m her friend.”

“Her friend,” Cooper scoffed. “Give it a rest, Sallow. You think you have some sort of claim over her just because you’ve been following her around since fifth year but never had the nerve to do anything about it.”

[prolix-yuy]

Writers' Iron Chef 12: Mistake

[PROMPT] “You don’t mean that.”

[ADDITIONAL PROMPT] “This was a mistake.”

[TIME LIMIT] Optional 10 minutes prep time, 30 minutes writing time, optional, 10 minutes editing time

Pairing: Jack Russell, Werewolf by Night x F!Reader (follow up to Staying the Night)

Rating: Explicit, 18+ MINORS DNI, descriptions of male and female (and monster!) bodies, unprotected PiV sex (don't be a fool, wrap your tool), oral sex (f receiving), some monsterfuckery scenes at the very end there as a treat.

Summary: The next morning, Jack finds the aftermath of the long night.

Notes: Written for Writers’ Iron Chef Prompt 12.

A little more spooky season fun, here's a follow-up to my sweet Jack wolfie boy story. He deserves to be loved for all parts of him, and I wanted to give him all that before letting them live happily every after.

Previous: Staying the Night

Morning pulls heavy at Jack’s eyelids, cold licking across his bare back, the swell of his thighs, and biting into his shoulder and hip where they’re pressed into the floor. He groans and twists, coming to his knees with pops echoing from his stiff joints. His nudity isn’t unusual after a full moon, but his surroundings are. Normally he wakes in a den of his own making, or next to Ted or another of his family who dutifully watched over him.

Panic shoots through his chest, memories of the moments before he changed flooding in.

I’ll be here all night, Jack.

His head whips around the room, his first instinct to scent blood and find flesh. The manacles are still circling him loosely, but no chain holds him back. The sick drop of his stomach is followed by a sob.

“My love,” he croaks, heart pounding with thick fear before he sees a body lying not too far away. 

You’re stretched on your back, naked save for the shreds of cloth you’re sleeping on. A hurried scramble to your body brings you into better view, threads of sunlight lifting the room from inky darkness to a subtle haze. 

“Oh gods, please,” Jack moans, hands skimming along your skin as his breath sticks in his chest. Yours rises and falls evenly, and if he’s not mistaken you almost seem to be…smiling? Even in sleep your expression is blissful, shifting towards his warmth. Jack continues to inspect, glancing over your bare skin, but there are no claw marks, no teeth, no blood. Some chafing around your wrists that he winces at, and your hair is a mess. Mostly you’re sticky, tacky with sweat and…

His breath finally returns, and with it a simmer of anger bubbling in his chest.

The wolf touched you. Possessiveness boils, his hands lighting on your thighs to gently part them. His nostrils flare at the scent - heady, musky, sweet and salty as the wolf’s spend glistens on your thighs, drying on your stomach and chest, and drips lewdly from your abused sex. Without thinking Jack bares his teeth, his hackles (or what’s left of them) raising. 

The wolf mated you, tried to breed you, and all Jack could do is find the aftermath, smell him on you in the way Jack deeply desired. Only him, only your Jack, not the part of him he feared.

You stir, the cool air on your skin rousing you from slumber. Jack tries to school his face, concern etched in his brow as clearly as the ancestral markings. 

“Lover, what did he do to you?” Jack murmurs, fingers tracing the purpling bruises on your hips, the way your skin pebbles at his voice, the fluids on your skin that make him want to claim you back. Opening your eyes, your smile only widens when your eyes meet his.

“Jack, it worked,” you manage to say past a painfully dry throat. He climbs up to your face, careful to hover over you while he strokes your cheek, looking for any signs of pain or distress. Instead he finds bliss, and ease, and love. 

Oh, the love squeezes his heart almost as much as the fear.

“He knew you?” Jack says, fighting the tremble in his frame. 

“Yes, knew me, knew who I was to you both,” you say, arms coming around his neck to pull him closer to you. He allows it, coming down on his elbows so he can press your foreheads together.

“I’m sorry, he…he defiled you. I didn’t think…it must have been…I’m so sorry, this was a mistake,” Jack moans, but before more pleas can fall from his lips you slot yours against them, bruising and engulfing his head in fuzzy pleasure. He barely registers your legs hooking around his thighs, pulling him down to you.

“Jack, I don’t regret it. Not a bit of it. The wolf is you, and you are him. I love you, and now I love him as well. I love every piece of you, Jack.” The heat of your cunt warms his hips, his arousal sudden and dizzying. 

“You don’t mean that,” Jack whispers against your lips, and your hands are forceful now, tugging his head up to look you in the eye while you angle your hips to notch him at your entrance.

“If you don’t believe that I can love you and the wolf, all you need for proof is that I’m alive, and still here, and never leaving your side,” you say, tone steely as he nods in amazement. Your smile turns coy when you roll your hips, the head of his cock slipping through your folds. He can feel how tender you are, how you gasp at the gentle intrusion. It makes the possessiveness rear again, his teeth baring as he cups the back of your head and slips a palm underneath your ass.

“I can smell him all over you. Did he fuck you as good as I do?” Jack growls just shy of dangerous, and you smirk with a tilt of your chin.

“You are one in the same, Jack. No man, and now no beast, has or will ever fuck me as good as you,” you purr as he slides you slowly onto his cock. He’s careful, the pinch of your brow showing just how sore you must be. 

“Lover, no one will ever know my heart the way you do,” he promises, burying his nose in your temple as he scents you, and the wolf, and now his own musk swirling together into an intoxicating cocktail.

Jack doesn’t remember his time as the beast, but as he claims you once again moments flash through his mind.

The span of his hands on your waist, both human and clawed holding you with reverence.

The obscene stretch of you around his cock, paired with the bliss of the wolf watching you touch and taste and bring him to the brink of pleasure over and over again. The way your body twisted up to look at the wolf, folded over you and blissfully deep, with love he couldn’t fathom.

When tears wink at the corners of your eyes, throaty whispers of “Too much, Jack,” making him replace his cock with his tongue, a memory of the wolf lapping at your clit pulls into focus, the points of his fangs pressed into your folds. Jack thought he woke with the taste of you on his tongue.

And finally when he’s claimed you again, his spend mixed with the wolf’s and your own, he feels the familiarity of your head on his chest, legs tangled together, holding both wolf and man as if neither was loved any less. 

“Thank you for staying,” Jack whispers into your hair, the swell of emotion silencing him so he holds you tighter instead.

“Every time, Jack. From now on.”

END

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[magicalqueennightmare]

Sins & Amends Chapter 12

(Gif by @ banditthewriter)

Billy Russo x Female Reader (60 part story)

This follows pre- the punisher into the storyline of daredevil, punisher season 1 and beyond

This is NOT Canon Billy. This is decent human being Billy left with bad options over worse decisions

This was also posted to A03 under: WaywardGaPeach. That account and this one is the only place you'll see me post this. If you see it on any other platform/account know it's not me.

Chapter Summary/Warnings: [NSFW. Steamy times]

You took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door to step out into your bedroom. Billy was sitting on the edge of your bed and the moment he glanced up your stomach did a flip from the look in his eyes. "My god Y/N those damn pictures didn't do you justice and I thought they were something. Come here baby let me look at you"

You walked closer to the bed taking his hand so he could pull you between his legs. You braced your hands on his shoulders before asking "So do you like what you see Billy?" He let his hands smooth up the backs of your thighs enjoying the little shiver he pulled from you at such a small touch before gripping your ass feeling himself harden. "Are you really asking me that?"  He asked tilting his head slightly to look you in the eye.

"Well you haven't really given me a clue either way" you teased seeing his eyes darken "Then let me show you" he pulled you into his arms barely suppressing a groan when you rolled your hips against his. "I've wanted this for so damn long" he confessed letting his mouth graze across your neck kissing then biting down just hard enough to pull a moan from you.

When his lips moved back up to yours you licked into his mouth rolling your hips in sync with your tongue then pushed him back against the pillows never breaking the kiss even when he tried to sit back up you simply pushed him down again. He'd really meant it when he said you were controlling the speed. When you broke away from the kiss his grip on your hips tightened both of you slightly breathless "One thing I need you to promise me"

"Anything" he swore letting his hands travel across your body. "Don't hold back. I won't break" you knew he had been being cautious with you but you didn't want cautious. "Yes ma'am" he agreed with a smirk pulling you back down to him before flipping you so that your back was to the mattress "I'm gonna ruin you for other men" he promised kissing down your neck letting his hands travel further pulling first your bra then panties off.

"Ruin me then" you breathed and felt one of his long fingers teasing your folds. "Shit you're soaking wet. God I can't wait to feel you around me" your head fell back when he pushed one finger into you "Oh god Billy" you cried when he added another curling them both up until he found that spot he was looking for which made your eyes roll back. "I'm gonna make you cum like this then with my mouth then I'm gonna fuck you until you can't walk straight"

You tried to say anything in return but you already felt that pressure building inside of you and when he leaned down rolling one of your nipples between his teeth that pressure burst. Your back arched off the bed with a cry. You glanced down and saw him slowly lick your juices off his fingers "You taste even better then I imagined" he licked into you holding your thighs apart to give him better access "Enjoy yourself. Fuck knows I am" he told you with a wink before his head dipped down between your legs.

You felt his tongue swirl around your clit and buried your fingers into his hair trying to find anything to hold onto as you rode the wave of pleasure coursing through your body. He moaned when your grip on his hair tightened and the feeling vibrated throughout your body. "Oh fuck Billy" you moaned grinding down against his face any inhibitions long forgotten.

When his fingers joined his tongue you knew you couldn't last much longer. The moment he just barely let his teeth scrape across that sensitive bud inside of you your orgasm washed over you again. He ate you through your orgasm greedily licking you clean. You opened your eyes and nearly came again just from the sight of Billy between your legs staring at you like that.

"Are you good?" He asked wiping his hand across his mouth. You curled one finger to beckon him back up your body. He kissed up your body stopping to lick your left nipple into his mouth while he kneaded the other with his hand then switched attentions.

He continued to kiss up your chest then to your neck nipping and sucking across the flesh there before he made it to your mouth. You kissed him tasting yourself on his lips and felt yourself grow wetter "Condoms are in the side table" you finally managed.

He reached over you and pulled the new box out "When did you?" You blushed despite yourself "Earlier today?" He kissed the tip of your nose then tilted his head towards the box "Put it on me"

He turned his attention back to your neck biting hard enough you'd probably have hickeys the next day but you didn't care. You grabbed one of the foil pouches and opened it before wrapping your hand around him. His movements stopped momentarily and his eyes fluttered shut when you jacked him a few times before sliding the condom down his length.

He looked back up at you and fuck those dark eyes were the most gorgeous sight you'd ever had pleasure of seeing. "You ready for me sweetheart?" He asked lining himself up with your opening. "Please fuck me baby" you moaned feeling him slowly push into you.

When he finally hit bottom a loud moan fell from both of you. He gave you a moment to get adjusted to his size but when that burning stretch gave way to pleasure you pulled him closer letting your lips crash onto his "Move Billy" he pulled out almost all the way then slammed back into you.

Your eyes fluttered shut but you felt one of his hands gently wrap around your neck tilting your face up to look at him "No baby I wanna see you come undone. Look at me"

You forced your eyes to stay open as he sat a grueling pace pounding into you. Your nails found his back carving your pleasure into his skin with every thrust he gave. "Billy please..fuck I'm gonna cum" "Go ahead..let me see you"

He pulled one of your legs up to his shoulder changing the angle completely and ripping a scream of pleasure from your throat as yet another orgasm ran through your body. He fucked you through it grunting into your ear and telling you how beautiful you were. "Fuck seeing you like this? Why the hell did I wait so damn long"

When you came down a bit you pulled him into a kiss then smiled against his lips "On your back this time Billy" he raised an eyebrow but pulled out of you long enough to pull you on top of him. He looked down the length of your body and licked his lips "Take what you want baby I'm yours"

You braced your hands on the headboard before slowly lowering yourself down onto his length moaning at the new position that made him feel even deeper into you. Billy let out a hiss when you started rolling your hips against him chasing that familiar heat "Fuck just like that Y/N"

Hearing Billy moan your name made your movements get faster and harder. "Oh shit sweetheart. Fuck riding me so damn good" you could feel that warmth building again and he must have felt you tighten because he gripped your hips harder and started thrusting up to meet you "Come on Y/N baby I'm so close"

You could feel the muscles in your legs burning as you slammed down to meet every thrust. "Fuck Billy...oh fuck I'm gonna cum" "Cum for me" he ordered and that was all it took your head fell back as the orgasm flooding through you making the entire world take on a haze. You could feel Billy's thrusts getting lazy right before he gripped your hips tight burying himself as deep as he could. He came with a moan of your name on his lips.

You collapsed against his chest and kissed the scars at his shoulder "That was fucking amazing" he chuckled and said "Took the words right out my mouth sweetheart"

You almost fell asleep in that position but heard Billy mutter something. "What'd you say baby?" You asked and he grinned "I gotta get this condom off"

You started to slide off him but gasped at the burn between your legs so he helped you. You barely made it to your pillow before you collapsed. Billy pulled the blanket over you and kissed your cheek before climbing out the bed.

-------------------

When he climbed back into bed he slid his arm around you and pulled you back against his chest. You would be sore the next day but you'd never been happier and the sex just confirmed what you already knew. You were in love with Billy already.

You fell asleep with his head pressed down between your shoulders.

-------------------

It was around six the next morning when Billy felt you stirring. He opened one eye and watched you for a moment with two startling realizations one being you weren't sure he'd still be there which hurt a bit and made him want to kill any man that ever hurt you.

The other realization as he pulled you back into his arms and kissed you before saying "Y/N go back to sleep sweetheart. I'm right here and i ain't going no where and neither of us has anywhere to be till Lisa's party"  and you let out a content sound before kissing his chest he knew then and there he was head over heels in love with you.

Tags @intothesoul

@weallhaveadestiny

[fossilcookie]

20 years after the ultimate defeat of Dark Enchantress Cookie, Earthbread returned to a time of great harmony, no more threats from evil dragons or twisted mages, all was calm, and many Cookies settled down and started families. It was a cool winter day in Earthbread, but that didn't stop Frappuccino Cookie from training, she whacked her shortsword against the straw dummy, cutting deep gashes into it before taking a deep breath, and blasted it with a spell channeled from the tip of its blade.

“Haha! That's my girl!” A hearty laugh echoed from behind her.

Frappe turned around and looked at the boisterous figure, one of her fathers, Madeline Cookie, he had grown long in the tooth since the end of the Enchantress’ reign, a small beard had grown on his chin, he had gained a few battle scars, and despite his extensive hair and skin care routines, they had slowly taken on aged appearances as well.

“Thank you, Papa.” Frappuccino said as she sheathed her sword and set her shield aside. “How is father doing?” She asked.

“Oh you know Espresso, always looking further into his studies, he’s gotten better since we’ve had you, but he’s still absorbed in his work.” Madeline said brushing hair out of his eyes

“Yeah... But at least he takes the time to spend time with us. Speaking of what time is it?” Frappe asked simply

Madeline glanced over at a nearby clock and spoke up. “10:12, why?”

Frappe’s eyes widened at hearing the time, she started panicking a bit. “Crumbs, I’m gonna be late, Botanist and the others were gonna go on an expedition at 10:30!” She bolted out the door and shouted behind her. “Bye Papa, tell father I love him!”

Madeline shook his head and chuckled. “She really is the perfect medium between you and I, Espresso…”

After about 5 minutes of running, Frappe was panting at the front door of a local shop called “Botanist Cookie’s Herbal Potions and Remedies”, she caught her breath and stepped inside, where 3 other cookies were sitting, seemingly talking about something before she walked in. There was White Cake Cookie, a young woman wearing a deep mauve robe-like outfit with beige details, a silver crown with a purple gem in it, a silver belt, black boots with the same gem pattern on them, and a goldish-brown scarf, she had pale sky blue eyes, long hair a similar shade to her robes, and in place of a normal left arm, she had a bestial arm with gold and white striped skin and long gold claw-like fingers. Then Lemon Shark Cookie, another lady, about a year younger than White Cake, she wore a paisley patterned shirt with a shark/fish theming, white swim trunks in place of a skirt or normal pants, orange sandals without socks, and a pair of scimitars sheathed at her sides, her skin was deeply tanned, eyes a deep eggplant purple, hair that was a bright electric yellow with a long ponytail forked at the end to resemble a sharks tail and shaped like a sharks dorsal fin at the top, and her sharp teeth bared in a smile. Finally, there was Botanist Cookie, he wore a dark green suit with a white undershirt, brown pants so dark they may as well be black, black shoes, and a flask over his right hip, his eyes were a deep forest green, same as his hair, which resembled wilted, dying leaves, and his skin was a few shades darker than everyone else in the room.

Botanist took the flask from his side and opened it, taking a few good swigs of its contents, closing and stashing it back before speaking up. “Well there you are, Frappuccino Cookie.” He said in a dry, annoyed tone.

“Yeah, I got preoccupied with training, sorry…” Frappe said rubbing the back of her head.

“Hey, girl it’s cool, at least you’re not late like Mozza.” White Cake said jokingly.

“40 coins said she slept in again.” Lemon Shark bet in a sing-songy way.

“Whatever the case, down to business girls.” Botanist said pulling out a map and laying it out on the table, he pointed at a spot on the map deep in the woods nearby. “Kettlebell Flower is in its blooming season. I need some fresh for mana potion production, simple as that.”

“So we just go deep in the woods, pick some flowers, and get back like always?” Frappe asked, Botanist simply nodded his head without a word.

“UGH….!” LS groaned out. “So boring… This is why I hate February, stuck on land not getting into any action like I do out at sea with my Pops.” She complained rolling her eyes.

“Oh calm down Lem, spring thaw’s coming soon, won’t be too much longer before you can go sailing and beat up pirates.” White said patting her on the shoulder.

“Well then, now that we’re all ready and Mozzarella Stick clearly isn’t coming, I think it’s time we-” Botanist’s train of thought was cut off by the door slamming open, just outside the door was a short woman with clawed feet and a long tail that ended in a tuft of orange feathers.

“Sorry guys I slept in and didn’t realize until Mom brought it up at breakfast what are we doing?” The girl, Mozzarella Stick Cookie, spoke speedily without taking a single breath.

“HAH! PAY UP SUCKOS!” Lemon Shark blurted out excitedly.

“We’re just going to grab some Kettlebell, nothing exciting, Mozz.” Frappe said.

“Oh ok that’s fine I could’ve slept in a bit more and gone with you guys once I saw you walking down the path to Dragon Hill you know how fast I can run I can easily outpace my Ma’s little delivery bike ooooh hey what’s in the flask mind if I have a drink?” Mozza grabbed Botanist’s flask and took a sip of it, and once it hit her tongue she spat it out in his face. “Ugh what is that and why is it more bitter than that crappy lemonade my Mom’s work sells?”

Botanist grabbed the flask back from her and groaned. “That’s my herbal tea recipe, Mozza, you’ve tried it 5 times already., given what you are and where you come from, I figured you would’ve remembered what it was and that you don’t like it…” He stated simply

“Oh pfft duh of course I must’ve forgot well my dad’s memory isn’t that great so I guess I got it from him.” Mozza said knocking her head.

“Great Milennial Tree, Mozza, slow down and take a breath for once!” White Cake said, always caught off guard by Mozza’s dialect.

“Look I think we’ve wasted enough time here, let’s just go.” Botanist said after drying his face off with a towel.

After that, they went into the forest near Dragon Hill, it was biting cold, but there was no snow, just frozen ground and dead plants.

“Alright, the Kettlebell patch should be somewhere around here…” White Cake said holding the map.

“Man, why does she get to hold the map?” Lemon Shark whined.

‘Probably because you can’t read a land map to save your life cause you spend all your life at sea.” Mozza spoke casually, then got her side jabbed by LS.

As the group walked along, the atmosphere felt… Off. Like someone or something was watching them, the air was thick and felt colder than usual, and everyone could just barely see figures bounding out of sight in the corner of their eyes. When they got to the Kettlebell patch, it was wilted and black, with wisps of ash emanating from it.

“What the hell…?” Botanist Cookie spoke out in shock.

“I have a bad feeling about this, I’ve never seen flowers wilt like that.” Frappucino said, shooting her hand to the sword on her back.

Then, a shrill scream from deep in the woods, the group bolted in the direction it came from and saw two Cookies, cowering in fear as 2 large Cream Wolves loom over them, growling and frothing at the mouth, one of the scared Cookies, a young man holding a stick as a makeshift weapon, looked at the group and called out.

“P-please, help us! We were on a walk when we got jumped by these rabid beasts!” He said, terror in his eyes as he batted one of the wolves away to little effect.

“Alright, we need to come up with a game plan.” White Cake spoke up before Mozza tapped her shoulder.

“Call me crazy but I don’t think Lemon Shark is listening 'cause she is diving right into it.” Mozzarella Stick said pointing at the sprinting pirate girl.

Lemon Shark cackled wildly as she drew her swords and plunged them deep into one of the beasts' shoulders. It howled in pain and thrashed to the side, but Lemon Shark was dug in good and deep.

“HAHAHAH! Finally, I’ve been craving a good fight!” LS giggled as she would after finding buried treasures.

“Dammit Shark!” White Cake rolled up her right sleeve, revealing a small silver band on her wrist, she swung her arm out quickly and the band expanded into an arm-mounted crossbow.

Frappe drew her sword and shield, and Botanist readied some magic in his palms, it giving off a dark green glow, and Mozza… Well it seemed like she didn't have a weapon or any powers, but she was ready to fight.

“Why are you here, you're not equipped for battle!” Botanist shouted at her.

“Or am I?” She sped towards the other wolf, jumped in the air, and landed a flurry of kicks to its side, hooked claws slashing into the skin. “Never underestimate me druid boy I may be small but I can easily beat my sport-loving brother in a fight.” Even now she spoke in a flash.

Botanist rolled his eyes and slammed a palm to the ground, almost immediately large roots erupted from the ground and threw the second wolf far. Frappe battered into the first one Lemon Shark was on and looked back at the distressed pair.

“Go, now! We’ll handle this.” She shouted, bracing her shield as the wolf pounced back at her.

The two explorers bolted off as fast as they could. Lemon Shark kept riding the first wolf like it was a mechanical bull, meanwhile, White Cake was riddling it with shots from her bow, a few bolts almost striking LS.

“Alright, that’s my cue to jump off, ground combat time!” She ripped the scimitars out of the wolf’s shoulders and backflipped off.

Frappucino landed the killing blow with one good slash to the thing’s throat, but rather than fall to the ground dead, it exploded into a puff of dark gray ash, like the Kettlebell the group initially came for. The second wolf bounded out of the woods, but something else was on its back, it resembled a demonic skeleton wielding a two-pronged pitchfork.

“ Heads up, we got company!” Frappe said, lighting her sword up with magic fire.

Botanist used his magic to manipulate the vines in the trees to knock the wolf rider off its mount, the skeletal thing skidded across the ground, readying its weapon.

White Cake spoke up. “Me and Botanist got the wolf, Frappe, Mozza, you guys get the bone boy.”

“Right!” Both girls said in unison.

The skeleton spun its pitchfork and charged forward, but Mozza just kicked it in the face, and its skull clattered against the ground, but the body simply picked it up and put it back on its neck.

“Well it was worth a shot cut me some slack I’ve never fought a skeleton before my dad works with them but they’re not trying to STAB ME WITH A PITCHFORK HOLY SHIT!” Mozzarella Stick yelped as she weaved out of the way of the attacks that came midsentence.

Frappe managed to cut the thing’s humerus in half with her flaming sword, every bone below the cut dissolved into ash, leaving just the pitchfork. “Hey Mozz, wanna try a weapon?” She said looking at her companion.

Mozza picked up the pitchfork and started thrusting it toward the skeleton, missing each strike. Botanist thrashed more vines toward the second wolf, thorns slashing into its skin as WC’s bolts pierced it.

“Damn this thing’s tough.” White Cake huffed.

“Tell me about it… Wait, where’s Shark?” Botanist asked.

Lemon Shark jumped from the trees and swiftly sliced off its head. “See, it was that easy.” She snarked

Meanwhile, the skeleton yanked the pitchfork back and jabbed it at Frappe and Mozza, and it managed to cut the latter’s cheek.

“Oh, you PRICK!” Slits appeared in Mozza’s eyes and she kicked it in the chest so hard its ribcage splintered.

The skeleton demon stumbled backward, clutching its shattered chest in pain, too late it noticed Frappucino behind it, slits in her eyes as well, she was pointing her sword right at its head charging a spell.

“Taste a Firebolt, imp.” With a flick of her wrist, Frappe fired the spell and it exploded the things head on contact, the bones now unbound by magic, clattered to the forest floor and withered to dust.

“Are we done… That took a lot out of me.” White Cake huffed, retracting her crossbow.

“I think so.” Botanist replied, magic fading from his hands.

“Man that was great! I don’t know about you guys but I would kill for another round.” Lemon Shark boasted.

Just as she finished, another demonic monster burst from the forest, this one was cyclopean, had a firey whip in place of an arm, and floated above the ground without legs. With one swing it threw Lemon Shark and White Cake to the side and it stared at the others in the group.

They put up a good fight but this one is not playing around, it very quickly dispatched the group, all of them huddled at the foot of a tree. The beast slowly approached, solidifying its whip arm into a sharp blade ready to cut them down to size. Frappe shakily stood up with her sword in hand, huffing while looking into its soulless, crimson eye.

“You wanna piece of me?” She groaned out a threat.

The demon raised its blade arm ready to strike, but it was caught off guard when a bolt of magic struck it in the back of the head. It looked back and saw another figure standing on top of a tree branch, a young female Cookie holding her hand in a finger gun position and holding a large stick with a pink and white heart-shaped spade on the end, she had a distinctive cocky smirk on her face.

“So, this is what was causing all that trouble. Perfect time to start my training as a hero.” The girl spoke in a high, somewhat squeaky tone, she rushed forward and started beating the monster's head with the staff.

“Who the heck is the kid seems like they’re trying to live out some prepubescent power fantasy.” Mozzarella Stick said at a speed barely slower than usual.

“Whatever, she’s got it distracted, I’m going in for the kill, there has to be a weak point…” Frappe almost fainted as all her energy was drained from the last fight.

“Hold on, I have something…” Botanist pulled out a blue potion bottle, popped the cork, and handed it to her. “This will give you heightened speed and energy for about a minute, it should be enough to keep you up.”

Frappe took the bottle and consumed the contents, almost immediately she perked up and sped towards the monster, slashing every part she could looking for an especially vulnerable one. Before long she took one good look at the head, the girl was still whacking away at it, it seemed more annoyed than anything else, but then the girl hit it in the large central eye. Of course, it seemed so obvious, so obvious it’s a bit cliche in fact, but no matter, Frappucino leaped into the air and thrust her sword towards the head, and the beat turned its head just in time for the blade to sink right in its pupil. The creature screamed in pain, throwing Frappe and the young girl off, it tried to pull it out with its lone hand but had issues due to the size difference.

Frappe huffed and readied her hand. “And I’ve officially reached the end of my rope with this fight…” With a snap of her fingers, the blade ignited inside the beast’s eye, and soon its whole body was alight, it slumped to the ground dead, bursting into ash.

The young girl beside her, somehow unscathed from the fall growled in frustration. “WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! I WAS SUPPOSED TO BEAT THE BIG MONSTER!” She shouted, puffing out her cheeks angrily.

“Kid I don’t mean to sound rude but who the heck even are you and why are you out here alone shouldn’t you have school?” Mozza asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Pfft, who am I? Well, I’m the daughter of one of Earthbread’s greatest heroes of the modern times.” She boasted, puffing out her chest proudly. “I am GingerSnap, daughter of the great GingerBrave!”

“Ok… So that’s the who, but what about the why?” Lemon Shark asked.

“Oh, I was in the middle of tutoring when Uncle Wizard got a strange feeling and asked me to check it out.” GingerSnap stated.

“Maybe we should talk with him. I think I recognize something about these things and how they behaved.” White Cake stated, hoping she was wrong about her gut feeling.

Meanwhile, in a distant land, lit by hellish reddish-pink flames, a horned figure shrouded in darkness peered into the top of a staff with glowing red eyes. “Hmmm, seems someone found my cake monsters and were able to defeat them…” She peered closer at the figures and recognized one, White Cake, her expression soured. “Of course, she would be one of the first to do something like this, should’ve suspected such from Red Velvet Cookie’s spawn…” The image faded and was replaced by another glowing red eye.

The darkened figure moved to another chamber, a few figures looked back at her in surprise. “Oh mistress, is something the matter?” A shrill female voice asked.

“A few upstart cookies have already gotten in the way of things… I’ve waited 20 long years to relaunch my conquest and the second I do, they ruin it!” The dark being spoke out. “But no matter, that’s why I have you, my Cookies of Darkness…~” She said, gesturing to the shrill-voiced Cookie, as well as three others shrouded in the room’s shadows. “Are you ready to start our conquest?”

“Why of course, Mistress Pomegranate Cookie.” A second voice spoke up, a raspy male.

Pomegranate Cookie, clearly influenced by Dark Enchantress’ spirit, slowly chuckled, and that built into a familiar evil cackle

[she-karev]

Mama Bear

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: Two of Three

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Canon Season and Episode: Season 19 episode 9

AN: This chapter is set a few days after the first one. I’ll try to post the final chapter tomorrow so bear with me and I hope you enjoy.

Summary: Amber confronts Hunt after Allison bit Lucy again that turns physical. Later Andrew tells her their plans that night that shock her.

Words: 2270

I sling my bag over my shoulder barely able to contain my anger as I exit the resident’s lounge. I slam the door loudly behind me causing some of the staff members to look at me but I ignore them so I can march straight to daycare. I was ready to clock out early happy when while I was changing into my red shirt and jeans, I got a call from the people at daycare who called to tell me to come down to file another incident report…against Allison Hunt.

It’s been a few days since she bit Lucy the first time and I calmed down enough and told myself kids bite and that it won’t happen again. But then it happened again and I never felt like tearing into a three-year-old girl until now. My baby is being bullied and I will be damned if I let it happen again even if it means threatening her parents who are my bosses. Alex and Jo follow me no doubt concerned after I nearly slammed the door off its hinges.

“Hey what’s going on?” Jo asks.

I rant to them, “That little bitch thinks she can ruin my family well she has got another thing coming.”

“Did DeLuca cheat?” Alex asks no doubt in fury, “Do I need to kick his ass for you?”

“No DeLuca is an angel Hunt and Altman’s kid on the other hand was handpicked by the devil to reign chaos in the daycare.” I growl angry as I get in the elevator with Alex and Jo, “Allison bit Lucy again. Two times that little demon has sunk her teeth into my baby, it’s not a coincidence it’s a problem and she is a problem child.”

“Okay I can see why your so angry.” Jo says understanding, “You’re not gonna kill her though, are you? Because I feel the need to report you if you’re planning a baby murder.”

“I’m not crazy of course I’m not gonna kill her. I’m gonna kill her parents.”

“I feel the need to remind you that Altman is the chief now and lashing out at her and punching her husband could cost you, your job.” Alex tells me.

“I don’t care!” Alex winces at my yelling, “Her child is bullying my baby and I am not gonna stand for it even if I lose my job. I am not a resident and she is not my boss right now, I am a mama bear and Altman and her spawn are hunting my cub and I will slash her face off if I see her pointing a gun at my baby.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared of you.” Alex admits fearfully, “And you put a garter snake in my shower while I was using it.”

“You did?” Jo asks, astonished.

“It was a pet of mine I found him in the yard and he escaped.” I explain and turn to Alex, “Just be glad I got to Snakey before he bit off your snake.”

“Snakey?” Jo asks with a chuckle.

“I was six sue me.” The elevator doors open and I march down the hall until I spot Bailey, Hunt and Ben Warren outside the daycare waiting for us. I stand in front of them with an angry frown directed at Hunt who clears his throat. I turn to Bailey and Warren, “His daughter bit yours again too?”

“Yep.” Warren confirms with a calm voice but disappointed frown.

“Look I’m sorry I-I really can’t apologize enough.” Hunt tells us but it doesn’t make me feel better, “Now I will talk to my wife and she will come to you and figure out what to do moving forward.”

I chuckle darkly, “Hiding behind your chief wife that’s classy.”

Alex tries to step in, “Amber why don’t we-”

“Shut up.” I command in a harsh voice and he does so as I turn to Hunt, “Hunt I don’t want to be at work worried over my baby being around your devil spawn child.”

Hunt looks at me offended, “Excuse me I will thank you kindly not to insult my daughter.”

“So long as your daughter doesn’t assault ours again.” I point out, “Now I can’t reprimand your wife but I can reprimand you because you have less power here than my five-month-old. Do something or I will take matters into my own hands.”

Hunt sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “I have to pick up my kids and take them home.”

“I’m not done here.” I tell him but he starts to turn and I react by pure rage and grab him by his ear pinching my thumb nail against his scapha causing him to yell out in pain as I bring him back outside leaning down so he can look up at me, “I said I am not done.”

Hunt groans in pain as I keep a hold of his ear, “What are you doing?”

“Taking matters into my own hands.” I coldly inform him.

Bailey tries to step in but Warren stops her, “No, no we should stay out of it those nails look sharp.”

Hunt groans in pain, “They are!”

I press my thumb nail down harder to make my point, “Now listen to me Hunt and listen to me good if your little brat doesn’t stop picking on my daughter not only will I give her full permission to kick her ass when their grown but I’ll be kicking yours and your wife’s right alongside her, do you understand?”

“I think I feel blood.” Hunt informs me and I press my thumb nail harder causing him to groan in pain, “Yes! Yes, I understand!” I let go of him and he rubs his ear after my vice grip looking at me like I could snap at any minute, “I’ll talk to Teddy I will just…Jesus.” He goes inside to pick up his kids and I look to see the others looking at me frightened.

“What? The man needed a lesson on what kind of family he’s messing with.”

“Hey, I am on your side.” Jo looks at Alex surprised, “That’s my niece his daughter bit.”

“Thank you.” I turn to Bailey and Warren, “And unlike the two of you I have an insurmountable rage inside me that can’t be contained.”

“Clearly.” Bailey confirms, “I think I saw your rage bleeding out of Hunt’s ear.” I see Hunt walking his kids out of daycare and I go in to check my daughter out so I can forget this horrible day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The smell of garlic hits me as soon I open the front door carrying Lucy in her car seat. I follow the scent to the kitchen where I find Andrew in full cooking mode wearing a ‘Kiss the Chef’ apron and sauteing the peeled peppers in garlic over the stove. I smile at the sight and get Lucy out of her car seat so I can hold her as we get closer to her dad while he’s cooking.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Andrew smiles at us, “I see you two got out early.”

I hold Lucy against my hip, “Yeah I got a resident to take over so I could spend the night with you guys.” I inhale the sweet aroma deeply moaning in pleasure, “Roasted peppers on olive oil?”

Andrew nods, “Yep, with lots of garlic.”

I kiss his cheek, “You spoil me. I could really use some of your Italian cuisine after the day I had.”

“Well don’t get mad but this isn’t all for us.” I look at him confused, “It’s for the dinner party tonight.”

“What dinner party?”

“At Hunt and Altman’s.” My eyes widened at that information, “She invited us yesterday as a way to apologize for what happened at daycare. Ben and Bailey are coming too. I already got Carina to babysit tonight don’t worry she was actually more than happy to do it.” He notices my shocked face, “Didn’t I tell you about the dinner?”

“Um no but then again we’ve been so busy we’ve barely had time to shower let alone catch up.” I move to sit in a chair by the island, “I guess now would be a bad time to tell you that Allison bit Pru and Lucy again.”

He looks at me shocked as he puts the peppers in a glassware dish, “What? When did this happen?”

“Today I went there before I came here.”

He groans, “Okay it’s fine the dinner might be awkward but we’ll talk and hopefully resolve this with clear eyes and full hearts.”

I clear my throat, “I think I should tell you that I confronted Hunt about Allison and…blood was literally spilled.”

He looks at me scared but treads carefully, “What did you do?”

“Um…” I scratch my head to find the words, “I might have grabbed him by the ear and told him to keep his brat in line or me and our daughter would give him hell in the future.” My husband reacts with wide eyes, “Also there might have been some blood from the pinching his ear.”

“…Well at least you got your point across.” I look at him blankly, “I mean I don’t really know what to say here. On the one hand I’m shocked you would stoop to physical blows but on the other I’m a little turned on by this badass side of you.”

I groan at the unfortunate timing, “Let’s skip it, it’s gonna get bad and I am in no mood for a showdown with the Hunt’s.”

“We’re not gonna skip it.” Andrew stands next to me holding Lucy’s tiny hand, “It would send the wrong message and we should apologize for you manhandling Hunt so we can continue to afford our comfortable lifestyle.”

“I did not manhandle him.” He raises a suspicious eyebrow at me and I break. “Okay fine I did but he asked for it! Their daughter has now bitten our daughter. Twice. It’s a problem and making them your heavenly peppers sends the wrong message.”

“What message?” He asks dumbfounded, “That we’re Italian?”

“No, it sends a message that what their daughter did is okay and it’s not! I made that clear to Hunt. I have to protect my child even if you won’t.” Lucy starts to get fussy.

“Whoa hey of course I want to protect Lucy, I’m just saying physical blows are gonna make this worse not better.”

I scoff, “It started getting worse when their child bit our child for a second time!” Lucy cries in my arms and I rock her to soothe her, “Great and now Hunt and Altman are upsetting her at home. Something needs to be done because short of getting a nanny Hunt and Altman need to fix their problem child. Let’s just stay in and watch Moana for the hundredth time it’ll be better than what ever that dinner will entail.”

Andrew sighs and Lucy calms down, “Look we’ll go we’ll eat the peppers with Altman’s dry chicken and politely talk to them about Allison. Perhaps this feud of ours will be resolved if we talk to them and use our words instead of our fists.”

I stand up and go to the diaper bag to get Lucy’s dragon for her to play with, “You know calling it a feud sounds a little melodramatic.”

“Okay and what would you call it?”

“It’s a war.” Andrew chuckles at that. Lucy is holding her dragon as I sit on the couch with her on my lap, “They declared war on us when they didn’t do squat and let their daughter bite our daughter again. Now we’re the Montagues and Capulets, the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s it’s a war between the DeLuca’s and the Hunts and going over to their territory for false promises of peace is like asking out loud where the trap is and how hard we should step on it.”

Andrew sits next to us and grins at Lucy who’s busy biting her dragon’s arm, “Be honest Lucia who’s more melodramatic, me or your mama?”

“You really don’t want us ganging up on you when she’s a teenager because you don’t stand a chance.” I coldly inform him.

“Amber all I’m saying is that tonight don’t think of it as a dinner table, think of it as a peace table. And I’m sure as mad as Altman is at him, I don’t know if she’ll approve of you making her husband bleed. I mean come on I think this war of ours is at a standstill after the ear assault. It’s just a couple of hours and if it comes down to it, we will leave. Plus, when was the last time you and I had a night out with our adult friends without a baby present?”

I think on it for a moment with Lucy in my lap and come up empty, “Fine we’ll go but if they piss me off, we tag team with Bailey and Warren and go all Rocky and Creed on their Drago.”

“I’m pretty sure Creed died.” Andrew reminds me.

“Because he didn’t tag out with Rocky do you see what we’ll do differently?” Andrew chuckles and kisses me and then Lucy and goes back to the kitchen to his peppers. I exhale at the predicament I got myself in while my daughter is oblivious as she plays with her plush dragon. I grin at her in envy kissing her on top of her soft dark hair, “Your lucky to have parents who are willing to fight in the ring for you baby.”

[ciaossu-imagines]

I really like that post. Lots of good takes but I especially feel you on the non interacting with fandom.

Honestly, I place blame on that pretty strongly on capitalism. My spoons, even for fun activities like fandom and reading books/fics, have been severely drained since I started working and especially since I've been driven into survival mode because of capitalism.

Not to mention with how short-lived everything is now because of capitalism. Shows and movies and book series get cancelled left and right. They have fewer episodes in the few seasons we get of a TV show.

I’m so glad that the post seemed to have garnered good reception overall. And I completely understand where you’re coming from and think your points are so valid! It was a lot easier to exist in fandom before working 40 hours a week. I only achieve it because honestly, my mind is weird and my spoons fit best in that area. But being too drained even for the ‘fun’ things is definitely a mood I think almost all fans past their high school days completely understand. Also, you bring up such a good point – it’s super hard to find the mental capacity for too much of ANYTHING period when you’re forced into that survival mode. I don’t know what country you’re in, so I can only speak to my country and my particular area of it, but I know people with double income, no kids, people working 2, sometimes even three jobs, and still living hand to mouth, living in shared apartments or rental houses because wages aren’t anywhere close to keeping up with the huge increase in cost of living. Finding the mental capacity for just the bare basics of living when you’re in that mode of trying to ensure all the bills are paid and groceries on the table and a roof over your head and god forbid there’s any sort of emergency because there goes whatever you’ve put into the rainy day fund…it can sometimes feel completely impossible and I sympathize and feel for anyone in that situation, so I send so many well wishes your way and hope you’re doing as well as you possibly can, each and every day!

You also make such a good point regarding media in general. A lot of the older anime had good seasons, easily at least 20 episodes, if not more. You had lots to sink your teeth into and it was rare for you to have to worry about it not getting another season. Today’s world, it’s hella difficult to find seasons above 12 episodes and a lot of the time, there’s no follow-up seasons. Manga’s seem to have followed the same trend – you look at things like KHR, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach and they’re lengthy (in One Piece’s case, that’s a fucking brick of a manga, said in the most respectful but slightly intimidated way). But the ones nowadays just seem…shorter, harder to really immerse yourself in, and you are probably very right in that it all comes down to capitalism and the need to make a buck. To say nothing about the worry about shows you enjoy getting canceled to save money…still crying over series that will never be finished in this corner, haha. Man, capitalism really does ruin everything…time to bury my head in the metaphorical sand for a bit and escape that sad reality 😅

[monstermonstre]

31 days of horror 2023 (part 2/?)

Every year in October I challenge myself to watch 31 horror movies, 1 for each day, with varying success. If you’re new here, I love horror and so the challenge is more about the commitment, than pushing myself to do something I wouldn’t enjoy or do otherwise (thankfully).

The first half of October went too well, so it was bound to go south eventually. For this second part, there were a couple of terrible watches (although I can't say I didn't see them coming) and there were several days in which I didn't watch anything because it felt like pulling teeth. Fortunately I managed to get back on track with some great shorts (and Chucky).

12. Werewolf by Night (2022): Against my better instincts, I gave this M*rvel short a try. I thought well, the fact that it's from M*rvel Studios doesn't have to matter. It could be a nice short with some cool werewolfing even if they slap one of their magical stones onto it. Well it wasn't. It was terrible, and it got me mad at the people praising it for being "different" and "artistic". 55 minutes of my life wasted.

13. Chucky S3E2: This is when I started worrying that this new season wasn't working for me, that they had finally made a Chucky story I didn't like (I mean, like a lot of people, I didn't really enjoy Child's Play 3; but at the same time it was OK, I've seen worse).

14. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985): I did watch this one on Friday the 13th so ignore the number next to it. Continuing the franchise, I was surprised to find this one as enjoyable as I did. The kills get pretty repetitive and there aren't as many characters you root for as in 4 but the cast was acting their hearts out and that alone really carried me through the film. Also Reggie was delightful and I was so happy to see Miguel A. Núñez Jr.

15. The Fall of the House of Usher E1&2: I didn't go into this thinking I was going to like it but I did think it was going to be a "fun to hate" experience. I was wrong. Nothing about it was fun. I could barely get through the first episode. I pushed myself to try the second episode, thinking maybe...I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe Flanag*n's worst so far, and that's saying something. Anyone saying it is good is insane and has never seen a horror movie before.

16. Ganja & Hess (1973): Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, ... One of the most gorgeous films I've ever seen and packed with so much to say. Must watch for fans of cinema and vampires.

17. Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988): Another "didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did" entry. Incredible commitment to the bit, delightful special effects, some of the worst case of "how do you do, fellow kids" actors in their 40s playing teenagers you'll ever see, and some genuinely funny jokes.

18. Creep (2014): We won't mention that I watched this twice this month.

19. Chucky S3E3: Reminded me why I've loved the show so far. Packed with what I love the most about the franchise and featuring one of its best kills. Maybe the most batshit lines of dialogue on American TV right now.

20. In Search of Darkness (2019): Don't get me wrong, I did watch those 4 and a half hours of talking heads like it was nothing but I was left a little frustrated. It felt like it stayed too at the surface despite its runtime and most of it were arguments we've heard before a thousand times. However when I realised there were 2 more of these documentaries I got excited. Hopefully the other entries will go deeper (but even if they don't, I'll probably still have a good time).

I love horror and watch horror movies year-long. However after two weeks straight of horror every day, I got a bit tired. I took a break for several days and when I felt ready to get back into it, I had 4 days to make up for. So I turned to short movies. And, frankly, I need to stop watching shorter films only when I need to make up for time lost in a challenge because I am missing out on gems like

21. The Tell-Tale Heart (1953): Gorgeous animated short adapting the famous Poe story, with James Mason narrating. I'm gonna link it here because if you have 10 minutes to spare you should watch it. This and the following entry.

22. The Sandman (1991): Incredible stop-motion animated short by Paul Berry, whose style you might recognise from Nightmare Before Christmas. Like the previous entry, if you like horror, just give it a watch.

23. Wild Love (2018): This one was just silly and great fun. Reminded me of Treevenge (2008) in its plot and humour. It's on Youtube too but behind an age-restriction, so if you're not logged in (or don't have a neat little extension that bypasses those) you might not see it there.

24. Pontypool (2008): Pretty original concept for a zombie movie and some solid performances but I could not get into it. At all.

And that's it for part 2! I couldn't complete this challenge last year but it looks like it's going well so far. One last week to go!

[camels-pen]

where does the day go, oh creature of grief?

Ectoberhaunt day 12 - Way of Life & Cause of Death

Summary: A look at Vlad's life after his accident, before the college reunion.

warning: dissociation

Ao3 Link

Vlad spat in the sink. 

When did he start brushing his teeth? 

It didn’t matter, he supposed. It was the same thing that happened every morning.

He rinsed off the brush and set it down in its holder. 

He reached for the mirror.

Automatically, his eyes trailed up from the sink and he saw—

Screaming.

“Vladdy, oh my god!”

He couldn’t move. He could barely breathe. 

There was so much burning—

Vlad blinked. The cabinet doors under the sink had a slight chip in the paint. He’d have to fix that sooner or later.

He picked himself up, ignoring the porcelain shards and cuts littering his hands, and opened the medicine cabinet behind the mirror while staring at the chipped paint.

Maybe he’d just call someone to renovate the entire room. The tub was getting rather old anyway.

He turned his back to the sink, staring at the rumpled green and gold shower curtains as he swallowed back two pills. Hopefully that ibuprofen would start kicking in soon. His head has been absolutely pounding ever since he woke up.

What was next?

His stomach growled.

Ah. Breakfast.

Vlad stood in his kitchen. There was a small bowl on the counter and three eggs sitting beside it. A pan was on the stove.

Now, was the plan scrambled eggs or sunny side up? Or maybe he was trying to—

Vlad paused, leaning over the stove. 

He stared at the oil in the pan. The heat slowly started to build and there were a few bubbles forming here and there.

The eggs. He still needed to crack them and add all the seasonings.

Vlad continued to stare at the oil, his face slowly drifting closer and closer to the pan.

The heat was a nice change. It slowly warmed his face in the way he and his core enjoyed.

He watched one of the bubbles slowly grow larger and larger. 

It popped, the boiling oil landing directly on his nose and—

Little green spots of—of something all along his exposed arms.

People were yelling somewhere near him, but his eyes drew upwards from his spot on the floor. (When did he get on the floor?)

The proto-portal smoked and sputtered before crumbling inwards on itself. 

Darn, they’d have to start from square one again.

Something large cast a shadow over him—

A plate of scrambled eggs and a mug of coffee were in front of him. Vlad was sitting at his table.

He started to eat and idly checked through the morning newspaper that was set to the side.

Vlad blinked and the newspaper was open to the daily Sudoku, his plate cleared and mug mostly empty. He picked up the pencil next to his hand.

He worked through each clue, reveling in the challenge. The pressure of the pencil in his hand made him feel each of the little teeth marks from previous and more difficult Sudoku he’d worked on. The little scratches on the paper as he filled in space after space was a comfort.

He’d messed up a number. That was meant to be a 3 not an 8. 

Vlad shook his head and flipped the pencil around, erasing it quickly and brushing off the shavings. He took a small sip of his coffee as he pondered the next box. It tasted cold and too sugary. Vlad grimaced and put it down. 

He took his time figuring out each row and column. Checking and double checking his answers until all too soon he filled in the last box. 

He flipped the page to check for the answer key, useless though it was. Vlad knew it was correct, but he couldn’t help but cling to this brief moment of clarity that Sudoku always afforded him.

The answer key matched his Sudoku. Vlad sighed and closed his eyes.

When he opened  them, he looked at the plate, fork, and mug drying in the dish rack beside the sink. 

A dishrag slipped from his hands and fell onto the counter. Vlad ignored it and moved to put the nearly empty carton of eggs back in the fridge.

There was a list pinned to the door with a magnet. It was written in his handwriting. It laid out his schedule for the day. 

After breakfast, he needed to head to the office; there was a meeting with HR late in the afternoon. Then, when he returned home, he’d need to transfer a small sum of the money he’d stolen into his bank account. Following that, he should return to his bulletin board and continue his self-debate about how best to approach Jack and Maddie. 

He added a small note under ‘self-debate’ to also gauge whether it would be a smart idea to bring a gift for Jasmine’s twelfth birthday despite never having previously met her in a way that would let her see him.

Would it be that strange for him to visit for the occasion? It’s not like Jack and Maddie hadn’t shown up during stranger times in his own life—

“One of you can come with him.”

“Jack, you go. I need to clean up the lab before our supervisor blows a gasket.”

“No Mads, I’ll stay and help. V-man’s out for the count right now anyway. We can visit him when he’s fixed up.”

Something was wrong with him. Vlad’s body didn’t feel right.

He was scared. Where were Jack and Maddie?

“I’m sorry kid, they stayed behind.” Someone squeezed his hand. “Try to stay awake for me, okay? It’ll just be a few minutes until”—

Vlad sat at his large oak desk, a cold cup of coffee sitting next to his computer. It was open to multiple minimized internet tabs and excel spreadsheets.

There was a knock at the door. He gave permission to enter.

It was the head of HR. They were scowling and asked why he was nearly twenty minutes late to the meeting. They told him they couldn’t start without him.

Vlad gave them a blank smile. He said he just needed a moment to finish up and collect the relevant documents. Said to give him a few moments and he’d be right there.

The head gave him a skeptical look, but relented. They told him to arrive in no later than 5 minutes just before they closed the door—

Vlad could shoot green fire from his hands. And turn invisible. And fly.

He tried to show Jack and Maddie when they finally came to visit, but his nerves must’ve gotten to him. He didn’t manage to show them any of it.

He shared all his theories of what could’ve happened and his joy about the different studies they could pursue on his newfound superpowers. He was ready to get back to the lab and dive headfirst into researching the strange changes to his body.

Vlad was absolutely ecstatic. Besides all the research, he would finally be able to get out of here and talk to his friends at length about the frightening awakening of his powers and all the shenanigans he got up to trying to hide them from the doctors and nurses.

It was supposed to be his last day at the hospital. And it was, in a sense.

It was his last day at this hospital.

He was transferred to the nearest mental institution that same day. 

“Where am I? What is this place?” he asked, looking around at the sterile white walls. “Jack? Maddie? You said you’d be waiting for me, where are”—

Vlad shuddered and rubbed a hand down his face.

Abruptly, a deep-seated sadness gripped his core and he felt tears trail down his cheeks. He sobbed once, quiet and nearly inaudible in the empty room.

He allowed himself a minute.

He watched the time on his computer the whole time.

When the number changed, he took a large breath and let it out.

Vlad chugged the rest of his coffee, grabbed a small folder off his desk with an ‘HR’ sticker on it, and left to find the meeting room.

[lesbianslovebts]

I am trying my damned hardest to cope right now, but I have to get some anger out first. I hate being disabled. I hate living in a house full of disabled people. I hate surviving instead of living.

I am autistic. I have anxiety, depression, and PTSD. I am an abuse survivor. Trying over 5 different antidepressants and going on birth control for menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea made me gain over 100 pounds between ages 12 and 15. I am immunocompromised. I get a sinus infection that lasts for 4-8 weeks every year. When I was younger, I had bone removed from my face because of chronic sinusitis. They had to put me on one antibiotic after another as a kid. The pediatric ones stopped working, so I ended up on adult antibiotics despite the risk for joint damage. I even had a PICC line put in when I was 8 to pump antibiotics right into my heart. I've had multiple cauterizations to stop severe nosebleeds. One time, the bleeding was so bad that trying to stop it from coming out my nose made it come out my mouth and eyes instead, and my eardrums almost ruptured. When I had Covid-19 in 2021, it lasted for 3 months. I developed seasonal allergies just this year. I have chronic migraine, which at this point is more than half the days in a week. I have GERD and IBS. Insomnia, sleep apnea, and restless leg syndrome. I no longer have tonsils, adenoids, or a gallbladder. I have chronic muscle pain.

My gramma has lived with us since I was 5. She smoked for 50 years and has had a heart attack, strokes, triple bypass surgery, stents, blood transfusions, aneurysm, COPD, staph infections, inch-deep craters in her leg, sepsis, amputation, type 2 diabetes, no teeth, celiac disease, glaucoma, sleep apnea, and countless episodes of heart failure and fluid in her lungs. We think dementia is coming next. She almost burned the house down a while back. Not to mention anxiety, depression, obsessions, and so on.

My mom has chronic vestibular migraine, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, anxiety, depression, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, IBS, GERD, and recently started bleeding out her ass, which could be simple hemorrhoids or colon cancer. 🙃

My dad was an abusive alcoholic, so I cut him off. He is autistic and has Dupuytren's contracture so severe that he can't open his hands and can barely use his thumbs and index fingers, horrible allergies, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and addiction, obviously.

My brother is a type 1 diabetic with a phobia of low blood sugars, which means he purposefully avoided taking the appropriate amount of insulin since he was a teenager. Combined with a diabetic-specific eating disorder, his A1C has been regularly over twice what it should be for over a decade, which has led to the following: diabetic retinopathy and cataracts, complete kidney failure (on dialysis), neuropathy in his legs and feet, no teeth, chronic pain, chronic fluid buildup, and malnutrition. Not to mention Dupuytren's contracture, ADHD, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and addiction.

And it may be silly to count my pets in with the people, but my dog and two cats are all 17. I've had them since I was 10. The dog has a severe heart murmur, is deaf, and takes several meds, but she's still happy, does brief zoomies once a day after a good shit, and lives to eat. Both cats are arthritic, which is to be expected of such old ladies. One has a sore on her chin that won't heal, and I'm about to spend $1k on her to see if it's solvable or time to make decisions. 🙃

Every single one of us in this house, animals included, are disabled. My mom and I worked so hard to make this a safe, clean space for us after moving out of the filthy, broken house we were in for 15 years, where we all suffered trauma. But ever since my mom let my brother move in due to his health issues, the house has gone to shit. I am the only one who cleans, and I just can't keep up with it. The only safe, clean space for me is my own room, where I imprison myself to survive.

All this, and I still haven't committed suicide because I am dying to live a better life. I have worked too fucking hard to get here. I remind myself of this, of the progress I've made, of my accomplishments, of what I want to see and learn and do, of what and whom I love. But Dear God, I am praying for a break, for some rest, for some peace, for all of us.

[breakerrhexis]

I’ve Been Here Before

Hi, hello, loves! I’ve Been Here Before is ACTUALLY based on a weird dream I had. I’m an avid dreamer with vivid dreams that aren’t short from being mind-boggling and disorienting. It’s like being thrown into Wonderland every time I drift off into sleep. I spent an entire year trying to dissect and remember details from this dream, but it’s honestly been hard because it still doesn’t make any freaking sense! I love it. However, for the sake of storytelling, I had to fill in the missing details with details that made some sense :( I wish I remembered everything.

When the clock strikes 12 A.M., and the nuns have wandered to sleep, the children rise from their beds and stories from the teller they seek. As she huddles them to a circle, a fire she strikes, and as she dances with the shadows, a tune is brought to life. Her mouth forms a sentence that bleeds raw and red. It’s the tale of a belle who is taken from her bed. In a tower, she is saved from the claws and teeth of men, and this is the tale of how she broke the witches hex.

PART 1/1 🤍 unedited

When the Grand Tower strikes twelve, it’s a loud unmistakable sound. The tock, the click of mechanisms and chains that rattle. For most in Grimoire, that would be the sign to sleep. It’s midnight, and who knows what plagues the streets?

But to us, to the children in the orphanage, it’s the sign that it’s time to dream out loud our stories. Stories are forbidden in Grimoire, you see. And it’s rare to hear fictional tales. But with not much else to do, we share little snippets of dreams and stories of monsters that would make the toughest knight crumble to their knees.

So when the only nun at our poor little orphanage burns out the candle wick and disappears off into a dark, desolate corridor with a grumble, the eight of us in the room slip out of our beds and tiptoe to the shack outside the house. We could barely contain our giggles as we settled inside and lit a fire in the hearth.

“Raven, it’s your turn!” The littlest one, Odin, said. His large brown eyes sparkled under the moonlight in excitement, I suppose, as he settled against his brother’s – Oliver – side

The rest roused a yes.

“Ok, ok… let’s see. How do you guys feel about… a dark, snowy night? A belle in distress. She is seeking her father in the trenches of the night, but unbeknownst to her, a shadow follows closely behind.”

“–Oh my god, I love it when she rhymes.” The red-headed, freckled, sixteen year-old – Lily – whispers. She leans forward on her knees and I smile.

“‘Father?’ She calls out. ‘Father!’ She had seen her old man, bewildered mad by his own hallucinations wander off into the trees, but she had not ran fast enough to catch him. Something had called him out into the forest. Perhaps, well, it could’ve been someone.

She shivered in her cloak and raised her torch in the air when a hand settled on her shoulder. ‘Beth, what a coincidence!’ Startled, the fair maiden swirled around and batted the man with a stick she had picked up from the ground.

‘Let go!’ She humphed. A meaty hand tore the stick out of her hands and the large figure of a man-beast loomed over her… but it turned out to be a man from her village. A man that made her stomach twist and turn in dread. His electric blue eyes hounded Beth down.

‘Oh… hello.’ She wound the blue fabric tighter around her shoulders, but never looked away from his eyes. Never show fear or you are as well as dead is what her father said. Never to a man like him.

‘What is a lady like you doing out here?’ He asked with mirth.

‘I could ask the same to you.’

‘It’s hunting season.’ His gaze left Beth uncomfortable.”

The children grumbled.

“‘I… I am looking for my father, you see.’ Beth said, reluctantly. ‘Well, I best be off. Happy… uh- hunting!’ She prepared to dash when he held her back again.

‘Stay with me. It’s dark out there. Wouldn’t want the beast to eat such a pretty thing like you.’

‘I rather take my chances with the wolves than with you, to be honest,’ Beth bit back. Her knuckles turned white with how hard she held onto her torch as as a dark look crossed the egotisticals man’s face.

‘Don’t think your father feels like the same way about wolves,’ the man stated, but Beth felt the violent intonation. She took a step back to create space between them, but the more she tried to do so, the harder he pushed forward.

Under the flames, his face reformed into a nightmarish, outlandish creature of the woods. His cheekbones cut and bled into shadows, teeth razor-blade sharp with canines that protruded over his bottom lip. His hands wrapped around Beth’s shoulder’s and dug crescent wounds into her flesh as he talking vile things. She screamed in terror and torched the side of his face.

He cried out in pain, clutching his left side eye. Then, his hair caught on fire.

Mortified, Beth watched, but soon, she staggered back into the darkness in complete terror and ran. She ran and ran and ran until her breath could no more, and her torch was out.

Her father, still plaguing her concerns, lingered with heavy guilt in her mind. She hurt a man. Possibly killed him. Her father was gone. But what if he returned to the cabin already?

What had she done?

She settled against a tree.

The world wormed in around her. The hollow trees, with their freakish limbs, reached out towards her and snagged in her hair. She cried out, hands coming over her head to protect herself.

What had she done?”

“But she was just protecting herself!” Odin said. Everyone agreed in unison.

“Correct! She was, but to everything, even to the things done in self-defense, there will be consequences. That is a sad fact of life, little one.”

Clearing my throat, I continued. “The cold winter froze the tears on her cheeks, crystalline diamonds that glistened under the scornful gaze of the moon. As the woods hounded her down, she pleaded for the torment to stop, but forth only came the howls of the pack, starved for a feast.

She stood, well… stumbled onto her feet and looked around. She ran, for there was not much else to do in the dark maze-like forest mind you, for what seemed like hours which were only mere minutes.

The wolves grew closer, their pants and howls louder than before. Beth ran as fast as her sore thighs could take her, but then her cloak snagged on a root, and down she came with a choked gasp.

In the next second, sharp teeth dug into her skin and rabid dogs started to drag her away. She dug her fingers into the blood-filled snow. She screamed, and screamed. The pain was unbearable. Teeth tore into her skin and muscle, and when she tried to kick, it made it worse.

Black dots danced in her vision. With the slight loosening of her grip, the wolves yanked her away. She mumbled out something.

She reached out for someone. Anyone.

And then a roar stilled the forest, even death itself, into silence.

Beth watched, through bleary hooded eyes, a large hunched over silhouette rampage through the pack of wolves with ease. His movements were heavy, but powerful, and his mouth easily fit the head of a grown alpha wolf inside.

Beth drifted into darkness as this strange creature fought for her life.”

I hadn’t realized I closed my eyes as I seemed to relive these moments. I felt heaviness in my heart, a longing that killed me almost. A price to pay for such stories. It was almost like I believed them to be true.

“Please tell me they fall in love?”

I shrugged. “We’ll have to see, no?”

Just as I opened my mouth, the door to the shack swung open and the nun began batting at us with her stick. We ran off to bed in mortification. “Stories are not allowed, you stupid imbecile children!” She roared. “You’ll see tomorrow, you’ll see. The shit I have to put with, Lord.”

We scrambled back in our beds and squirmed away from the nun’s scornful eyes. “Goodnight,” she huffed and slammed the door shut. Click.

“Woah…”

We said our goodnights.

I almost went to sleep when I felt something missing. My bear. I looked underneath my bed and found the old, raggedy thing looking at me with one eye. I smiled, dragging it out from under, and cuddled it to my chest as I closed my eyes.

In my dreams, I was back where I left off. I awoke as Beth from a deep slumber. I was in front of a fire place, huddled in numerous thick blankets and surrounded in pillows. Whatever this was, it was cozy, and I cocooned deeper into the warmth. We didn’t have such things in Grimm. It was always cold and rainy.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

“Oh, looky, I swear she moved.”

“You blind fool, she most definitely did not. She has been out cold for days. Master is worried, you see… that she has been infected.”

“Stop your stupid rambling or I’ll push you into some cold water.”

Infected? And what was that noise? It was like someone dropped metal. But as the voices faded, I heard it more. I opened one eye and studied my surroundings.

I seemed to be… in a study of sorts? Perhaps? I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to move one bit. I was so comfortable and warm and it was absolutely delicious…

Father. The fire. That disgustings man’s hands on me.

My heart started to race. I covered my head in covers, but the anxiety still chased me. The worry ate away at my thoughts. Oh Lord, my father. What happened to him? What if he’s not okay? I needed to know.

Fortunately, the voices I heard earlier were long gone and so I, as gently as I could considering I felt stitches along my legs, I crawled out of my little cocoon and stood in a thin chemise.

I didn’t even bother to think too much about it. I looked around for something to cover up in, like a coat or something, but when I found nothing, I settled for a blanket from the large pile.

I wondered out past a set of wooden double doors into a long, stretched-out hallway. It was dreary and moonlit, lined with several decorative knights. I stopped for a second to admire the handsomeness, but then was startled by a squeaking mouse.

Trekking forward, I turned a right corner.

.

.

.

.

.

[cagedchoices]

I was curious to figure out just how broke Caleb is in the context of Westworld season 3 so I started down a complete rabbit hole and I'm now making it everyone's problem.

The average salary of a construction worker in Los Angeles in 2020 was around $38,400, with the upper range sitting somewhere around $43,000 and the lower range likely falling to $33,000 when Westworld season 3 aired. depending on location and other factors such as education level, certifications, additional skills, and number of years spent working in the profession.

Interestingly, Westworld's real world didn’t seem like it had adjusted for 30+ years of inflation, but I suppose it could be explained by the thermonuclear destruction of Paris and most of France and then later on the Russian Civil War. Perhaps the economy had experienced a recession that curtailed the inflation rate and values had dropped and never really recovered. In short, I'm providing 2020 state averages because Westworld season 3 aired in 2020 and it was based on national and state averages for that year.

Caleb has a high school diploma. He also completed 6 years of army service as an infantry and combat specialist. His resume likely features a valuable list of skills such as: Strong Work Ethic, Physical Fitness, Experience With Communications Equipment, Teamwork, Leadership, CPR/First Aid. 

Slightly less applicable skills could be Weapons Experience (although this COULD translate over to skill with operating and maintaining construction tools), and Combat Skills (Quick Reaction Time and the ability to stay calm in a variety of emergency situations are also desirable skills in almost every profession under the sun). He has a lot of functional skills from being in the military, but he lacks the specialized training that someone such as a college graduate majoring in engineering or construction would possess, and without that, he is always going to be a step behind someone who may have more education background.

He has cost of living expenses which most likely includes paying rent for the apartment he lives in. The average cost of monthly rent for a standard one-bedroom apartment in L.A. in 2020 sat at about $1.5k. $1.5k per month over 12 months adds up to $18,000 in annual rent.

That would be nuts. The normal rule is that no more than 30% of total annual income should be spent on rent. Caleb is paying almost 50% of his annual salary for an apartment he is barely ever even at. It’s literally just somewhere he goes to sleep at night. You could literally book a room in a cheap hotel for a year and still not pay as much as poor Caleb seems to be paying in apartment rent. 

Someone please get my boy out of this. Teach him how to use a budget and balance a checkbook or something because clearly he needs the help. Show him what a healthy relationship with money looks like. 😭

Oh, and on top of this, Caleb is paying for whatever medical treatment and housing his mom requires. Average cost of that in our present seems to be somewhere around $10-12,000 per year depending on availability and preference for semi-private or private care. We’ll go with the semi-private option here since it is slightly less painfully expensive. On a payment plan, this would have Caleb paying $833 per month.

Caleb is shown talking to a representative who mentions that cost for treatment can be a challenge and that the best solution might be to move his mother to a state-run care facility instead. Caleb doesn’t seem like he wants to do this. A state-run facility might be cheaper, but maybe they aren’t as high-tech as the one he’s paying all this money for, or maybe their quality of care isn’t as good because of the reduced costs, or maybe there’s just no facilities close to where he lives and he wouldn’t be able to go visit his mom as often if she were moved away. Whatever the honest reason is, he's averse to it and would rather grit his teeth and pay for the expensive private treatment facility even if it leaves him flat broke.

His remaining $10,000 per year… This is most likely going into basic necessities such as: phone/internet services, food, clothing, hygiene maintenance, maybe routine doctor appointments? He knows how to drive a car, but he doesn’t own one in canon and I think that's because of how expensive and impractical it would be when he can just take the metro and then walk to work. No need to worry about burning more money on gas and vehicle maintenance.

He is also enrolled in trauma therapy when we first meet him, which in our world runs about $185 per one session, and then however much each phone call + duration of the call would charge to call service. If he has one therapy session per week, this adds to $740 per month and $8,880 per year. Even factoring in health insurance and Veteran Affairs covering some of the costs, this doesn't leave him very much spending money for himself, but the good news is he ditches the therapy, which isn't helping him anyway, and that leaves him with maybe a little bit of room to breathe.

But it's no wonder that he is stuck running small-time ATM heists, party cleanups, and drug mule jobs for a few hundred dollars through RICO. I’d be surprised if he had more than $1,000 to his name at any time before he started helping Dolores.

[lovestuckyhatemarvel]

Season 2 finale!

1.) Mike is so angry at Hopper

2.) I’m with Hopper and also he puts up with a lot and just hugs Mike.

3.) Lucas and Dustin hug El ❤️ and El notices Dustin’s teeth but ignores Max to hug Joyce and I am sad about that! I forgot how eager Max is for friends!!!!

4.) I forgot the gate got huge

5.) Karen is reading a romance novel in a bubble bath. I’m guessing she’s literally never had romance.

7.) rolling my eyes at Billy hitting on Karen so hard. Karen you can do better. Maybe. Barely.

8.) mike is the first person to realize this plan will kill Will

9.) the group kind of agrees that they need to burn it out of will first

10.) ‘I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend but it turns out I’m a pretty damn good babysitter’ and ‘it’s ok nance’ are what steve says when he tells Nancy to go with Jonathan

11.) so the teams are: el with hopper as team 1. Jonathan, nancy, Joyce and will as team 2. Literally everyone else on team 3.

12.) El admits she went to see Mama with a nice man in a big truck and Hopper does a very good job at not losing it. Hopper tells El about Sarah for the first time. Hopper gives such a good apology. El apologizes too

13.) bitchin

14.) I forgot Dustin makes Steve put the demo dog corpse in the fridge

15.) Steve shoots down the lure plan so hard and I’m with him. Mom Steve is here

16.) and now Billy is here, goddamnit

17.) Steve’s act might have worked if the kids hadn’t been looking out the window

18.) damn Billy really stomped on Steve. Billy is such a racist creep. Lucas kicked him in the balls

19.) Steve got 4 hits in before a plate was smashed over his head and then it’s just a fucking massacre until Max drugs him. It also takes like a minute to get him off his feet and even then he’s still conscious and max has to threaten him with the nail bat.

20.) I forgot the will exorcism is in hopper’s cabin

21.) steve is unconscious for seeeeeeeveral minutes and accidentally calls mike Nancy as he wakes up

22.) max is a terrifying driver

23.) I forgot Jonathan turns and hides his face in Nancy’s shoulder as Will screams

24.) yeah Steve has a massive concussion

25.) I forgot El and Dr Owens meet in this episode as Hopper puts a tourniquet on the man’s leg

26.) I forgot Will gets a hand free and starts to choke Joyce

27.) Steve says he’s in such deep shit before flicking the lighter

28.) Nancy jabs Will with a fireplace poker

29.) Steve and co light the demo dogs about the same time that the mind flayer leaves will

30.) will hugging joyce and Jonathan upon waking makes me want to write the duffers a letter to say those 3 have to live. The Byers have gone through enough shit.

31.) mike falls behind and is caught by a vine

32.) Steve kills the vine

33.) Dustin recognizes dart and gives him a three musketeer bar to get them past

34.) Steve gets the kids out of the tunnel first until it’s just him and dustin and he lifts Dustin so he’s not in the way of the demodogs

35.) the cgi is better this season mostly because they’ve given up on making every gateway look like placenta

36.) hopper is so worried about Jane. His daughter is levitating and then just drops

37.) one month later the lab is shut down and Murray watches them go

38.) hop meets with Murray at the bar that I’m pretty sure is the bar from season 1 where he asked about the guy who found the ‘body’

39.) hopper gets the birth certificate and gets permission for el to go to a dance ❤️❤️❤️❤️

40.) kids getting ready for dance montage is so cute

41.) kitten!!!! And also Steve drives Dustin. I forgot how cute this is. I love big brother Steve. But also him sadly looking at Steve is so sad. He then drove off.

42.) I just realized that unless I missed it, Nancy doesn’t actually admit she slept with Jonathan this season

43.) will leaves enough room for Jesus in his dance

44.) Dustin really tries but gets shot down hardddddd. In their defense ‘shall we’ is kind of odd as an approach

45.) I do love that Nancy dances with Dustin.

46.) Hopper and Joyce sharing a cigarette in the parking lot is cute af. Hopper is good at comforting tho

47.) I can’t feel super great about the any kids kissing when I know that Max’s first kiss was also her actress’ first kiss as well. And that’s rough.

48.) mind flayer pop up at the end

Final thoughts on season 2:

Cgi improved mostly because art direction on it shifted slightly. Audio balancing is better but not by much. Pacing is still kind of all over the place and we get a lot of times where we go multiple episodes without touching on one of the like 6 plots of the season. The most jarring and controversial one being Kali, who does show up like 5 times in the season technically but most are flashbacks. This is made worse by her never showing up in the show again as far as I know. There are also things there are just kind of dropped without warning or explanation. Like El’s knowledge and experience seem to vary wildly depending on what the scene needs.

And on interpersonal drama, I know it’s petty but Steve and Nancy don’t ever actually ever have a real conversation about their relationship in the show. Jonathan’s love of photography all but disappeared this season. The Byers dog is gone. The town mentions that Barb died from the leak but like, 8 people went missing last season. It wouldn’t have been hard to mention multiple people, including tragically high schooler Barbara Holland. Like this is one of a ton of shows where I’m not sure they have a continuity person on staff.

It’s a fun season to watch and the ads were slightly less egregious (kfc sad family dinner still terrible) but the Duffer Brothers still licked their way into this one over anything else.

[castle-dominion]

castle 6x10 the good the bad & the baby

the baby lotto episode liveblog

heheheh I actually missed this one on my family watch & we had to go back afterwards to watch it.

I'm so stoked.

Loooove a good bit of christianity. The aesthetics, the folk-catholic, the goth/emo, the religious trauma, I love it sm. *dies immediately after handing a baby to the priest*

Very Castle of him. But he's right leftovers are important. Oh yeah, Pi. (Ooh audio commentary... which I've seen) lol mom Oh her dad is joining them! ... Costume? (take it in the context of the times Dom, period typical homophobia tagged on ao3 as 2007, it's ok, well it is not ok but it's fine it's fine you don't need to do anything, just be quiet, it's fine, everyone in 2023 knows that this is racist it's fine just keep watching)

Should I clip this? KB: Uh … you guys – you guys dress up for Thanksgiving? RC: (pause) Doesn’t everybody? KB: (low) No, I think that’s pretty special to you. (to CASTLE) Um … so, is there anything else I need to know about you before we get married? RC: So many, many things.

lol beckett & becket

RC: When we do this, let’s not do the dead body in the middle of the aisle.

6.30 mass? that's early af. "at the buttcrack of dawn" said my lil bro

JE: a little something something. LP *turns around with a smile & a baby* RC: A BABY!!!!? LP: A boy. I’m guessing he’s about three months. (lol no.) And he’s hungry because he keeps going after the girls. RC: Oh, who can blame him? Hi, buddy. What’s your name, little man?

rysposito arguing over lottery lol (yk what? I'll quote.) JE: his name is Cameron Ducane, 30, lived in the Bronx. There’s no baby pictures in his wallet, he’s got a commercial driver’s license, probably drives for a living. He’s got a car wash coupon– (he scoffs) – and like Ryan, spent his hard earned money on a lottery ticket. KR: (sighs) That is the Five State Magic Ball Jackpot. At $247 million you’re crazy not buying a ticket. JE: Yeah, one or two. Not fifty. KR: I’m just increasing my odds of winning. JE: You’re increasing your odds of being broke. KR: Listen, do you have any idea what it costs raising a child in New York City? JE: (shrugs) I don’t know how much it costs. I mean - KR: Of course you don’t, ‘cause you don’t - JE: I’m – RC: Guys! How about we don’t fight in front of the baby? Beckett smiles and rolls her eyes all at once.

He does call himself ruggedly handsome more than once lol. Castle is also such a dad! He sees a baby & immediately he goes from "12-year-old humour" & "15 year old who thinks he can seduce his teacher" to "DAD MODE ENABLED. OBJECTIVES: PROTECT CHILD, CLICK TONGS, MAKE JOKES."

What's his name? Julian? Love how Castle just steals him(*shrugs at beckett*) & gets ice cream. I am so glad that in the bonus features of at least one of the seasons we got to meet the "cast behind the cast" clipping

Yes he does drive for a living THAT IS A HORRIBLE SHIFT IMO. I used to work 11-19 but it was always that not 23-6...

Maybe he was thinking abt having a baby & put locks on the doors for that

I loooove this scene. They just filmed it in a car elevator. soo goood. (no-show or call in sick or smth?) (roman is very... artiulate if you know what I'm thinking about. Which you do. Why would you read my liveblog without having seen the show? unless you're reading my liveblog WHILE watching the ep but who would be doing that? I am not that popular.) Love the whistle

Ok so Roman the car service owner said that since Werid Prison Dude showed up, Cameron had been staying out all not, not coming in for his 3.00 lunch break.

That's an awesome tattoo but also it sounds like literally every tattoo. apparently this individual messed up their lines, it was supposed to be "howling at THE moon" but he said "It was pretty spectacular. It was a wolf, teeth bared, howling at a moon." & they kept it bc it was awesome beckt it is NOT specific. LOVE the outfits for ryckett, but I liked beckett's outdoor outfit better than her indoor one. Oh & esposito has bisexual clothes on (even tho it's supposed to be a classic case of dark haired gay x light haired bisexual)

If speeding tickets are on your criminal record then these detectives should get A Lot more "no record except for speeding tickets" rather than "no record"

KR: A guy takes off for work at 10PM and never arrives. And then at 6:45 the next morning he shows up shot to death at a church, holding someone else’s baby. What the hell happened in those 8 hours? That's the point of the episode babe

BECKETT shakes her head. The elevators dings and they turn to see CASTLE walking in, the baby in this arms. A UNIFORM (Julian?) follows him, his hands FULL of baby stuff. CASTLE waves. KB: Hey. So … that’s a couple of things? (ryan's big smile when castle comes in) RC: Yeah. I just grabbed the essentials. You know, diapers, a carrier, wipes, blankies, bottles, formula. Didn’t want little Cosmo going hungry. (Older brother's horror game player: B'by!! Baby! ... The ba,bey!) uwu castle dressed him up like a turkey! KB: I’m suddenly getting a clear and frightening visual as to what my future will look like. so she is planning on having kids.

KR: Hey, Castle. …um, mind if I hold him? It’ll be good experience for me. RC: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Ready? KR: Yeah He passes RYAN the baby. As soon as the baby leaves CASTLE’S arms, he starts to fuss. (because the film team had quadruplets & each baby had a different specialty. This baby hated being on their back so they would start crying. Coincidentally, Seamus Dever was holding them so the camera could see them which just so happened to be a position that the baby hated so they started to cry as soon as he held them.) RC: Hold his head, there. KR: I know. RC: Hold him up under his – KR: I know. The baby keeps fussing. KR: Um… he’s crying. What am I doing wrong? RC: Just try to remain calm. They can sense fear. (like bees, dogs, & bread dough) KR: This is not at all like the practice doll. The baby continues to cry and CASTLE makes a face. Finally RYAN breaks and hands him back to CASTLE. KR: I thought I was ready. Clearly I am not. (aside) Oh God, I’m not ready. Poor man XD, but also NOBODY is ready for a baby. (clipping)

I'm the baby whisperer!!!

RC: Want to hold him? Her smile falls. KB: Uh, no. I’d rather figure out where he came from. RC: Well, when a man – (Sex? I’ll explain how that works later.) KB: Stop. Stop. I know where babies come from, Castle. Just not this one. She heads for her desk. RC: I can’t believe you don’t want to hold the baby. Everyone wants to hold the baby. JE: I don’t want to hold that baby. (THAT baby XD) (tbh I could clip that one phrase) RC: shrugs.

Jimmy Wolfinsky, aka Jimmy the Wolf. Good name, good tat. That sketch has a slightly too strong chin

RC: So it’s a tale of betrayal and revenge. Cameron abandons his partner Jimmy he comes down, leaving him to take the fall. Ridden with remorse, Cameron tries to put it all behind him, start life anew. But surprise, surprise. *cameral looking at ryan from the baby's POV* RC: Jimmy made parole after spending seven long years thinking of ways to make his partner pay. I like the "chorus" shakespeare bonvolio moments where people recap what has been going on in hte ep. Makes it make sense for me. But I thought cam told his wife everything & wouldn't keep secrets like extra marital babies & presumably bank robbery

Clip the jacket toss? Maybe they don't know he's gone, just like the lightbulb len episode (not relevant to anything but remember when castle was like "alexis doesn't think loving ashley at college is practical but she needs to love him anyway" & now with pi he's like "don't you dare effing move out") clipping lanie baby talk to for sure

LP: Well, whatever happened happened near that church. She drops her jacket on a chair. KB: Lanie, what are you doing here? LP: I had some information and I thought I’d come by and check on my little patient. (she bypasses them completely and picks the baby up from the pack and play) Hey little doodlebug. How’re you doing? KB: What makes you think Cameron was shot near the church? LP: Well, based on the nature and the severity of the wounds, your victim maybe had only five or ten minutes before he bled out. RC: He couldn’t have driven that far. LP: Twenty blocks at most. I also found something unusual under his fingernails. [In baby voice] Wax residue, charred nitrocellulose, and camphor. Despite her rundown of the facts, she more interested in the baby. KB: Nitrocellulose? LP: Yes. It’s used to make celluloid. You can find it in old filmstock, certain kinds of plastic, but it’s highly flammable. (she goes back to the baby) Isn’t it? RC: Charred celluloid? Where would that come from? LP: Beats me. That’s your job. Right now my job is to play with the little baby. Yes it is. LP continues to bounce the baby. KB smiles.

Ryan no you are embarrassing me & I'm just watching the show. JE: Yeah, this is Detective Esposito. I need to put out a BOLO on a Jimmy Wolfins- (he pauses when he sees a man walking toward him) Never mind. I think I found him. should I clip the oblivious ryan + fight scene esposito? lil bro said yes

INT – TWELFTH PRECINCT OBSERVATION ROOM RC: is in the room, holding the baby. They’re watching JIMMY through the glass. RC: See that man? That is a bad man. He’s gonna confess and we’re going to know just who you are. The baby coos in his arms. KR: walks in. KR: Castle? Mind if I try again? RC: Course. Here you go. He hands the baby over, and just like last time the baby immediately starts to fuss. RC: makes a face and KR: starts to panic. He hands the baby back. KR: I’ll just … wait outside. RC: No problem. KR: sighs as he backs out the door. He can’t even come up with an excuse. RC: (low, to the baby) You did that on purpose, didn’t you? High five. (the baby hits his palm) Good job.

RC: That’s a grownup lying. (low) Get used to that.

I like the wolf. Not ratting on his partner even tho the man abandoned him in the bank job.

JW: Because … I don’t know, when I was convicted I may have told some folks that Cam would pay. But that was years ago. (they’re silent) Look, the truth is, I was the one who messed up that day. I got hung up inside. Cam waited as long as he could. Longer than he should’ve. I told him that. He knew we were square. Good on them tbh

You're out of the house before 7? I mean I used to have to catch my bus for culinary school at 6.00...

Love seeing Gates be normal Gates not "iron gates".

KB: Castle, we were strangers until this morning. but you were only strangers until this morning! Consistency is important for kids! In the face of that face XD

One of our own sjfhdsjksdjklj

lunch HOUR? He works 7 hours & one of those hours is his lunch?

I had never heard the term blotter in this context before this fandom. KR: Nope, only three men and a mustang.

Wait how do-- right the footage. We saw the footage at 4.12 & mass was at 6.30.

Files, information, bank transfer numbers... they don't need to physically steal stuff b'y. Yeah bro if they got in you need to know how they did & where your security failed.

RC: A heist where nothing was taken. Maybe this is a classic ‘no honor among thieves’ situation. You know, a heist goes wrong, they fight. (reminds me of 2x21) RC: A not-so-classic no honor among thieves situation? KB: Where someone gets shot running away with a baby?

aaaaaaaaah def clipping

KR: I mean, earlier just got me thinking. Our baby’s due in a month and I can’t stop it. What if I’m really not ready? JE: Well, you’re not ready. KR: What?? JE: (shrugs) Nobody is. Look, being a dad is like being a cop. No matter what they teach you in the academy, you learn on the streets. You did okay with that, right? KR: Uh :| …my first day I was so nervous I rear ended the spot man and the guys in vests poured out ready to take me out with extreme prejudice. JE: JE: Well … you care. That already makes you a hundred times better than the dad I had. KR: [watches him for a second] (the man took you to baseball games between the ages of 3 & 5 at least...) also wow a month! The next episode is when the baby is born btw.

Typically I hear Beckett call him Espo the most. love his scarf btw

Castle can tell by the smell it was recent? A DIAPER!!! Poor baby, possibly witnessed someone get shot

I love rysposito just chatting in the background (saying goodnight & leaving in "we"s bc caskett are going home together but girl that also implies rysposito are going home together)

You are correct, he is NOT a bad guy. My man used to be a getaway driver but then he got out of the life bro. He's trying to save this baby from whoever is out there shooting ppl! actually that makes me think. Why didn't cosmo cry when cameron handed him to the priest?

Lol he's the baby whisperer. I mean yeah! Castle raised Alexis! "officially remains custody of the nypd" I used to dislike self-insert fanfiction but uh heheh technically custody of the nypd babes. & he's right! He DOES have all the stuff!

"wanna have a baby with me?" XD It'll be fun! cut to: this is SO not fun!

I love how Baby Whisperer is capitalized Them is so much faster to say but at least the book didn't say "it" (also heck yeah caskett moments) just has an exercise ball cream of mushroom soup babes HAS SHE STILL NOT HELD THE BABY? *holding him at arms length* "I hate that blanket" KB: We’re going on the nasty blanket. Yeah. Like a surgery lol. Castle really is a dad. Love the music *just not showing anything lol, rly good for filming bc they don't need to be in front of the camera* (the music heehee)

RC: All right. Now all we have to do is get him to sleep. Oh no

Martha was ALSO a single parent! The door opens and ALEXIS CASTLE walks in. Her eyes widen when she sees CASTLE and BECKETT rumpled on the couch and MARTHA happily feeding a baby. AC: How long have I been gone?

The elevator dings and CASTLE and BECKETT step off. They both have coffee but they both look bone tired. KB: Coffee’s not even helping. RC: I’d forgotten about this part. They sluggishly head for her desk. KR: Whoa. (really good "woah" from him) You two look like you got hit by the milk truck. CASTLE gestures to his face. RC: You see this face? This is the face of your future. (not clipping) JE: That bad, huh? RC: No, no, no. We slept like babies. KB: Yeah, up every hour. KR: Where is the little guy? KB: Martha and Alexis offered to babysit him. (Is that allowed? they r not the nypd?) KB: They said they were going to make a day out of it. (she tries to focus on work) So .. where are we on … um … JE, who has also basically adopted people: Child services? KB: … child services.

Nooooo did the baby's relative DIE???

KB: Uh, given how much baby garbage we generated in just one night and given how quickly they cleaned and vacated that apartment after the shooting, I’m wondering where all their garbage went. JE: raises his eyebrows. It’s a new angle. EXT – NEW YORK CITY ALLEYWAY (they've filmed in this alley before /neu) RC is digging through a dumpster. KB pops up next to him. (nice jackett btw) RC: You always take me to the most exotic places. KB: If you didn’t want to jump in your could have waited on the side like you usually do. Her teasing is good-natured. RC: What? After the puke storm I put you through last night? It felt wrong not to participate. KB: Yeah. RC: Which, by the way, you were great last night. KB: (smiles) Thank you. You weren’t so bad yourself. RC: Well, I was no baby whisperer. (she laughs) You know, I’ve gotta say, when I volunteered to take Cosmo I – I thought I was doing it for his benefit, but … I realized I was doing it more for mine. I – when Alexis was little Meredith wasn’t really around, so I – I did it all on my own. And … when you said you weren’t a baby person … KB: Ah, okay. Okay, I get it. You were thinking that … RC: (nods) Yeah. KB: Well, tell you what. When the time comes, there’s no way I’m going to let you take care of our baby on your own. She smiles and he smiles back. They lean in for a kiss. (“it’s just weird” -rc in reference to kissing in front of a dead body) KR: Hey guys! They pull back. KR holds up a bag triumphantly. (also if u look in the background esposito is peeing against the wall. Remember s1 with the nanny when castle asked where detectives go to the washroom?) KR: I’ve got something. (lil bro: "it's a couch! for my apartment!" dumpster divin', dumpster kevin...) He jumps out and runs to show them. KR: Diapers. The same kind that Cosmo was wearing when we found him. RC: The cheap, un-biodegradable kind? Now that’s just criminal.

Ryan canonically knows abt wine then? he mentioned if he won the lottery (before he had a baby) thet he'd buy a winery & farm, he's impressed by argon canisters... JE: They were lighting pin opng balls on fire??? RC: *you're right that's a college party trick*

KB: Okay, a wine preservation kit, a missing baby, and a heist where nothing was taken. I mean, each time we find a piece of this puzzle it makes less and less sense.

ryan embarrassing moments:

RC: There’s something we’re missing. Something that – There’s commotion from out in the bullpen. KR pulls a chair over to the TV. KR: It’s time! It’s time! RC: - something that’ll make the pieces fit. They head out to see what’s really going on. JE shakes his head. INT – TWELFTH PRECINCT BULLPEN KR: Quiet everyone. It’s starting! KR hands a few tickets to his coworkers. (BRO???) JE: Wow man, how many of these things did you buy – KR pushes his finger against JE’S lips to get him to stop talking. KR: Shhh. Baby needs an education. Officer Harrison.

RC: Right. The break in where nothing was stolen? Ping pong balls, wax, gas? You guys, it makes perfect sense. They fixed the lottery. The crowd mumbles. RYAN looks at the TV in disbelief before ripping his tickets in half and tossing them in the air. (at the desks now) RYAN groans, his head in his hands, shaking, BECKETT'S hand rests on his shoulder. Except how would they get them in ORDER?

the winning the lottery joke was not good

Oh no the husband is probably the one who got shot!

ok but is that the third briefcase from the end or the third briefcase from the leftmost one? what if you're doing double inclusive counting? double exclusive counting? I'm really bad at this sort of thing Benny was crying? Benny was there? no wait that was yesterday not today Why would gates ask beckett what would happen to Paul Vail? She's the captain here babes

Corner after corner walk & talk

Caskett finishing each other's sentences lol RC: They’re not leveraging him. He’s in on it. Yeah lol acab

Ooh the way the music stopped when she put down the phone? so good

They just have him in the car service location? Ok so sometimes they show up & start yelling from a distance, other times they sneak up on em. What's the difference?

Oh the reunion!

VG: Nicely done. KB: Thanks. But uh … Cam is the real hero here. VG: The getaway driver? RC: Yeah. Turns out it was a case of honor among thieves. JE: Yeah. Paul told us the whole story. KB: When Cam’s boss, Roman, found out about his past, he pressured Cam into the job and threatened to fire him if he didn’t go along. RC: It was going to destroy everything he and his wife were trying to build. (all four of them are doing the finishing sentences thing) JE: Roman promised no one would get hurt, but then after the ball exchange at the TV station, Cam overheard Roman and Walter Dennis talking. They whole leaving the country thing was bull. They never had any intention of letting the Vails live. KR: Yeah. After collecting the winnings, they were going to stage an accident, killing them all. VG: Silencing the only witnesses to their crime. KB: nods. RC: When Cam found out, he couldn’t live with that. PAUL: He tried to save us both, but they caught him. So he grabbed Benny and ran. (to MIRANDA) He gave up his life for us.

Baby! Love his hat btw

KR: Well, the good news is, I mean, besides saving that family, they are rolling over the lottery. So I’ve got another shot at that $247 million. All I’ve got to do is tape my tickets back together. JE: Oh … dude. (KR stops) They uh … they already took out the trash. KR stops for a seconds, then turns and bolts out the door, almost running into someone in the process. After he’s gone, JE starts to laugh. He pulls KR's tickets from his pocket. JE: It’s– I’m just going to let him swim around in a dumpster for like a hour, then I’m going to pull him out. XD what a dick but it's funny

AC: Hey, if you guys have kids in a few years, and I have kids in a few years, they can grow up together. RC: RC: And … it’s ruined. Bestie the turkey should have already been out of the freezer those things take forever to thaw. I missed a day of culinary school. & was screwed. Also, like??? just break it down? Different parts of the carcass have different cooking times. Break it down & then cook them so that you have them all perfectly done instead of some overcooked some still half-raw

Love Martha's outfit (her braids are not nearly tight enough tho) *don't talk about it don't talk about it don't talk about it don't talk about it hhhhhhhhhhhh* where's Jim? I'm glad that thought distracted me. Also yeah I totally believed the castle family would do that. but why did SHE get castle's outfit? if she thought castle was being srs & would have his own?

So yeah I really really loved this episode! Minus the fact that I'm FNMI ofc.

So there IS an audio commentary of this but idk if it would be worth liveblogging.

[envysnest]

Snakeskin (Sephiroth/Reader) (ch. 11/?)

AO3 / Pillowfort

Rating: Explicit

Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13

Tags: First Time, Reader-Insert, Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet Ending, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Frank Discussions of Past Rape/Abuse, Everyone is Queer, Canon-Compliant (if you squint), Pre-Crisis-Core Seph, Slow Burn, i continue to disappoint my friends and family, sephiroth is a virgin and in this essay i will, Reader is a Cis Woman, fluffy sex, Praise Kink, Gratuitous Biochemistry

Summary:

You are a young biologist, fresh out of graduate school, working in Shinra's R&D Division under Professor Hojo. You had long since given up on finding a partner and starting a family, preferring instead the company of your cell samples and your scientific instruments.

As the conflict in Wutai worsens, you strike up an unexpected friendship with a First Class SOLDIER.

(Sephiroth/Reader Slow Burn)

TW's for this chapter: Gore and blood (the first section before the page break), nosebleeds (the first two sections).

---

You feel warm. You are outside. Long grass waves in the wind. Midgar does not have long grass. You are sitting in the grass. 

Sephiroth sits cross-legged in front of you. He asks you something. You can’t hear him. 

He smiles and asks again. It’s like he’s speaking through fabric. The birds are singing. They’re very loud. The wind picks up.

You open your mouth to ask, What did you say?

Something warm spills out instead. It is blood. You look into your lap, at your hands. There is so much blood. The birds are singing. No, those aren’t the birds: a live audience is laughing at you. Sephiroth ignores them. 

What? you ask, but you don’t hear your own voice. The audience laughs harder.

Sephiroth sits there and smiles. His teeth are stained with blood. Whose blood?

You touch your fingers to your nose; it is bleeding, too. Your blood?

The sun is bright. You can’t see.

Something is wrong.

Something is wrong, you think. Something is—

---

Your Shinra-co. Sunrise Alarm was on; its lamp shone directly in your face. Gentle, pre-recorded birdsong drifted through your bedroom. You groaned and swatted at the air. After a few tries, your hand found plastic. 

The birdsong stopped; the the alarm clock’s light dimmed to nothing.

The radiator hissed and spat as you sat up. It was unbearably warm in your apartment; your lips were cracked and parched. You rolled back over and stared at the wall. At eye level was Sephiroth’s note, the one you had saved from Saturday morning. 

Be back soon. Had a training thing I couldn’t get out of. Anything in the fridge is yours. Seph.

Had this weekend been real? 

Had you collapsed into bed on Friday night, exhausted from work, and hallucinated your way through a holiday?

Had you begun sleepwalking and writing notes to yourself, lost in a delirious stupor?

You coughed, and the faint, metallic tang of blood crept up the back of your throat. For a second, panic gripped you: metal glinting, gore dripping onto grass, artificially-blue eyes—

You touched your fingers to your nose. They came away red. A few drops of blood stained your pillow. 

---

It was, at last, the end of the holiday season. Shinra employees returned to the office bleary-eyed and unfocused, as if they had walked into work by accident. You tried saying hello; many looked away or scowled back. You couldn’t blame them: you were barely lucid yourself. 

You had spent the previous night obsessively flipping through Shinra’s promotional material. Everyone, it seemed, had an opinion on Sephiroth: his hair, his voice, his fighting style, the way he held Masamune. Like sticky children, they ripped apart every inch of footage they could find, dissecting every second of Sephiroth’s life. It was exhausting to watch. You crawled into bed at one in the morning, feeling cold and violated yourself.

Eager to hide, you took your morning coffee back to your cubicle. A fresh e-mail from Hojo (c.c. Lazard) blinked on your laptop screen: Presentation Schedule [ μ ] – εуλ 2000, sent at some bizarre weekend hour. Your heart sank: you were scheduled for a department-wide presentation in April. 

Hojo had forwarded you a second copy minutes after the first:

Doctor, This will be an exciting opportunity for us both. I will be submitting my annual performance review shortly after your presentation. Please ensure the data you present are representative of the high standard I hold this laboratory to. Warmly, -H. Senior Biochemist III, Shinra Corporation R&D  Shin-Msg ID no. 9413 “A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.”

You folded your arms and rested your forehead against them. Shinra’s fiscal year turned over shortly after your presentation slot. You would already be held to Lazard’s standard (excruciating), and now Hojo could blame you if he didn’t get a promotion (irritating, angering, infuriating, undeserved). Never mind that Hojo’s department had the retention rate of a sieve; never mind that you had to beg around for equipment and samples. A year into your work, and your main job had become repairing Hojo’s tarnished reputation, taking complaints with a smile. You felt your mood sour rapidly. The man himself seemed to be constantly stealing your—

“Professor?” Hammond.

You didn’t pick your head up off the desk. “Samples are gone,” you groaned, “right?” 

“Marce asked me to ask you,” Hammond replied. He shifted his weight on the cubicle wall, folded his own arms and rested his chin on them to mimic you. “She told me not to tell you that, though.”

Did you tell Hammond about Hojo’s casual theft? Shinra— with its labyrinthian clearance levels and endless NDA’s— wasn’t especially forgiving when information got into the wrong hands. You weren’t sure how much Hammond knew: for example, if there were more biochemistry labs beyond this one, or what Shinra might need them for. Truthfully, you weren’t sure, yourself. 

You spoke to him carefully. “QC picks samples randomly. They check purity so that we can back up anything we publish.”

“Oh.” This answer seemed to satisfy him. He scratched the back of his neck. His hair was shorter, you realized; perhaps the barber had nicked him there.

Eager to change the subject, you said, “That cut looks nice on you, Hammond.”

He grinned. “Like it?” He pulled at a stray curl near his forehead. “I wanted something professional. Something that said, Shinra Biochemistry.”

You smiled. “Next time, I’ll get a shave and tell them to dye Shinra Biochemistry across the back.” You drew a line behind your own skull to demonstrate. “In bright red.”

Hammond threw back his head and laughed. “Hell no! Hojo would have a fit.”

“I’ll say it was my idea.” You waved a hand. “Anyway. Can you please check on the mass spec data for that replicate? Let’s see if the glucose receptors hit that polysaccharide a third time.”

Hammond rolled his eyes and gave a playful salute. “Sure thing, boss.”

“Gooooo.” You mimicked pushing Hammond away from you. “Now. Or I’ll walk the three blocks to Morlund’s and buy the hair dye.”

After Hammond had left, you woke up your computer and stared at Hojo’s e-mail. Something nudged you: it had barely been twenty-four hours, but this seemed as good an excuse as any. 

You opened Shinra’s chat messenger and took a photo of Hojo’s signature. For a few tense seconds, you stared at the blinking text indicator. You still hadn’t replied to Sephiroth’s message from the night before. 

Will he be upset if I don’t?

You shoved the thought away and typed:

>>I hate everything about this signature.

You set your phone down next to your keyboard and wrung your hands. Your phone stayed silent. Feeling bile rise in your throat, you tried to draft an e-mail that wasn’t Stop stealing my samples or Please stop e-mailing me forever I quit goodbye also fuck you. 

Halfway into your fifth draft, your phone buzzed.

>>This was before your time, but this one was…special.

There was a picture attached. You cupped your hand around your phone screen and zoomed in. Sephiroth had taken a photo of his own computer screen; when you turned up the brightness, you could see his reflection in his computer. He had pulled up an old e-mail form Hojo that ended with, “My time is precious. Please be brief and straightforward in replies.”

You sighed with relief. If Sephiroth was joking with you, then maybe…this weekend wasn’t a hallucination, after all.

You replied:

>>Shiva’s tits hahaha >> was he always like this??

Sephiroth:

>>Yes. Like a moldy lemon.

You covered your mouth to keep the laugh in.

>>I don’t know what you mean but I know what you mean

He replied:

>>Can explain Fri. Have to go…be good...

Your breath caught. Sephiroth wasn’t a stupid man; surely the Friday reminder was a passive-aggressive way of telling you you hadn’t responded to his text. And what did the punctuation mean? You scrolled up and down through the conversation, but there was no mixed message you could identify. Had you said something wrong? Perhaps you could apologize in-person.

Or…

Or maybe he was teasing you. You could hear— feel— his whisper in your ear: Be good.

You ran your thumb over the message. The messenger app moved: up down up down.

---

You veered away from your usual walk home. You couldn’t stand to look at the defaced poster again. Even thinking about it made you feel hot with shame; as if you, personally, aided the death of thousands for a paycheck.

Aren’t you? you thought. You’re sleeping with a murderer for free.

You took a wrong turn and kept walking. It was usually dark when HQ let out for the evening, but the blackness now felt total, suffocating. Sector 8’s street-cleaning bots enthusiastically salted the sidewalks, leaving patchy white stains on your trouser cuffs.

This guilt wasn’t something to process in therapy. Shinra had birthed Midgar, and it clung to it like a stubborn mother. You couldn’t risk word getting out about your…thing. Most research was either funded by Shinra, or by a company hoping to be bought out by Shinra. 

Most of the High Street stores still had holiday decorations up. A cafe full of people yawned open, spilling onto the sidewalk; it was warm and damp inside. A huddle of musicians smoked cigarettes by the dumpster. You looked down, away from them, as you passed.

Even your advisor had been funded by a Shinra research grant; that alone had gotten your foot in the door. Everyone said it would be a good job, a good company, a great way to start your career. You trusted your therapist, but everyone had a price.

A couple of girls from the Sector 8 Community College walked arm-in-arm, giggling. You squeezed to one side to let them pass you.

And what about what Shinra was doing abroad? You weren’t stupid: you saw the news. It had to be for something. It was no secret Wutai despised its own people. They didn’t have reliable clean water there; they relied on water filter donations. To disguise cities from drones, the government cut the power off at night. Midgar’s refugee and migrant communities went dark at 8 pm out of habit. Wutaian hospitals used smaller generators, powered with natural gas, to run. Mako energy could power thirty ventilators where oil and gas could power one; mako was cheaper, too. 

If your research succeeded, if Shinra succeeded, mako could also deliver life-saving cures. Wutai’s parliament and royal family seemed to value ego over their country’s well-being. If only they didn’t fan the flames of petty nationalism; if only they accepted Shinra’s help.

Shinra was trying to help.

Right?

You cut through a small public square. An older couple ahead of you walked their dog at a glacial pace. You forced yourself to slow down.

Shinra could transition Wutai to cleaner, more reliable mako energy; Shinra could supply mako-derived medical treatments. They’d even build the infrastructure for free. What were a few more power plants, when they already powered the Eastern Continent?

And besides, you couldn’t possibly leave Midgar. Everyone you knew was already here. A new city would mean leaving them all behind. 

It would mean leaving Sephiroth behind, too.

Now outside of the square, you came face-to-face SOLDIER recruitment poster. Its edges were torn. A different Sephiroth was here, reaching out to an awestruck boy. Sephiroth’s blue eyes were benevolent. 

Always looking out for—

Metal, laughter, gore, grass—

Your heart seized in your chest. You turned sharply, nearly running into the couple and their dog. They looked up, the wife’s eyes wide. The husband said something in Japanese: maybe friendly, maybe hostile, but a phrase you didn’t recognize. The dog’s tail wagged slowly.

With a mumbled apology, you escaped into the nearest store. A metal bell jangled above you.

You leaned against the glass and tried to catch your breath. The tile below you was a sunny orange; you stared at it, traced the lines between tiles. Soothing folk radio played over the speakers. 

When you looked up, a row of rainbow objects greeted you. 

For a moment, you couldn’t make sense of what you were looking at— until you looked behind you, at leather harnesses of all shapes and colors hanging on the walls. The rainbow objects in front of you had a familiar shape.

In your distraction, you had run into a sex shop. 

You closed your eyes. Of all the places to end up.  The irony was cruel. You weren’t even sure this shop existed: maybe this, too, was a cruel trick of the light. As far as you could tell, you were the only customer. It would look strange, perhaps even prudish, to run out (though every part of you wanted to run). 

Straightening up and clutching your bag, you began a slow wander through the shop.

The shelves before you boasted dildos, vibrators, plugs: all shapes and sizes and colors. Some were so artfully designed, you couldn’t imagine how to use them. You felt heat flush your cheeks as you scanned the options. The cheaper offerings featured scantily-clad women leering at the viewer; you were sure that some were computer-generated. Out of habit, you looked down at your own body. (Hidden by your coat, and memory liked to lie.) You moved on.

A dark purple bookshelf, packed full, sat next to the harness wall behind you. You squinted at the titles: The Modern Sutra, F*cking With Confidence. There was an entire shelf for queer erotica. Even the usual gil-store fluff (labeled HOLDAY SALE!!!) was here, too.

Seph would like those, you thought. 

You shook your head and looked away. Enough of him, you scolded yourself, you’re obsessed.

The heat inside the shop was stifling. Harsh fluorescent bulbs ran the length of the front counter, illuminating velvet stands of body jewelry. The cashier, pink-haired and pale, smiled at you before returning to their phone. Behind them was a hand-written sign: NO WALK-INS FOR PIERCING!!!!!

A makeshift sex toy museum ran the far wall. An immaculate glass container boasted an old, cracking leather harness. A wooden dildo jutted proudly from its center. 

In the 1800’s, said the plaque, medical doctors believed vaginal penetration could aid with female “hysteria.” 

I need that. You snorted, hoping to appear cool and knowledgable, but you were sure your blush gave you away. Clearly something was wrong with you if you were this flustered and frightened at a fake dick. Stupid girl.

Your palms were sweaty and stifling under your winter gloves. Your eyes traveled the length of the harness. It had clearly been well-loved.

Another thought came to you, uncontrolled, unfiltered: Sephiroth looking up at you from under his lashes, his ears red, his chest bare and glistening under your hands as you—

“Need help finding something?”

You recoiled and looked up. The cashier was watching you over the counter, smiling.

“No,” you said, and you winced at how loud you were. You tried again: “No, I’m fine.”

“Alright, hon,” they said jovially. “You just let me know.”

As they finally turned back to their phone, you deflated with relief. You took off your gloves. You looked past the museum to a small velvet room. Lingerie decorated the walls. Blessed escape: you ducked inside to hide from scrutiny. You shoved the gloves in your pocket.

The tinny music was muted here. A row of headless mannequins sported corsets that looked far too expensive for you. Single pairs of panties lay draped across a shelf: baby-pink, black, cream, robin’s-egg-blue. You felt a pair between your finger and thumb; the silk was weightless against your skin. A photo of a judgemental drag queen was nestled among the offerings. SMILE, GIRL, said the caption, YOU’RE BEING RECORDED!  Her eyes followed you as you turned to the bra shelf. We carry up to 46 GG !!, said a hand-written sign, complete with a clumsy smiley-face. 

There were stockings here, too: crotchless, fishnet, thigh-highs.  Their counterparts, still in their beautiful embossed boxes, sat on a shelf nearby. 

You hesitated over these. Lingerie wasn’t something you normally liked; what was the point? It was expensive, and no one would see it, anyway. You didn’t want to admit the sorry and ragged state of your intimates. Your cotton underwear had become loose and tattered over years of re-use. You wore the same drugstore tights until they snagged, and when they did, you bought an identical pair for less than 1000 gil. Your best bra cups were connected by a few nylon strings and a prayer.  

But—

Cut it out, you thought, but it was too late.

But Sephiroth had touched your drugstore stockings like he had loved them, loved you in them. I wish I could have you through these, he said; at least, wasn’t that what he said? Didn’t he look pleased with you? 

Was he just trying to be nice? 

The memory warped in your head: Sephiroth laughing at you when your back was turned, Sephiroth thinking only about how horrible the tights felt. How ratty; how cheap. They didn’t even fit you anymore, after all. He probably saw how they bit your skin and dug into your waist. You clearly didn’t know what you were doing.

Anger bubbled up inside of you. What did he know? What gave him the right? He’s a man, you thought. He’s never even touched nice ones.

And then, with a jolt: He’s never touched them at all. He wouldn’t know that stockings could look better, feel better, than yours. Surely he had seen better in porn; you know you had. Your thriftiness seemed obvious to you, at least by sight.

But.

You touched the crotchless stockings with your fingertips. They were made of the same silk as the panties. There were even small, embroidered hearts near the waistband. Maybe they didn’t come in your size, and you held your breath. No: a quick glance through the boxes, and your size was there. They were even within your budget. 

Would he even want to sleep with you again? What if you bought these, and he never wanted to see you again? 

You looked into your bag. At the very bottom were your keys, and on the keyring was the FOB to Sephiroth’s apartment.

Buy it for you, urged a small voice in your head. Just buy it for you.

You found your size in black; at the very least, these could be worn under a work skirt. The packaging was heavy, sturdy. You took it to the counter, resisting the urge to hide it between your hands as you did.

“Find everything okay?” chirped the cashier.

You nodded, not meeting their eyes. You stared at the buttons decorating their shirt instead. THE PLANET IS FOR EVERYONE, said one. #STANDWITHWUTAI said another. You could recognize the A for Avalanche. 

“I like your pins,” you said quietly.

The cashier grinned and looked down at them. “Thanks!” They gestured idly at their lapel. “There’s a craft fair in Sector 5 once a month. I usually get some there.”

“Oh,” you said. You fished around in your wallet. “That’s, um, that’s cool.”

They nodded. “Cash or card? We take ShinPay now, too.” 

You hadn’t set up your phone for ShinPay. You sheepishly handed over your card. If the cashier thought any less of you for your corporate attire, they didn’t say so. They bounced on their heels as you both waited for the transaction to resolve.

You took your card and the plastic bag with a thankssomuch and shoved both deep into your work bag, not even bothering to return your card to your wallet. You barely registered the cashier saying, “Enjoy!” as you scurried out of the shop. The cold winter air felt like a blessing against your skin.

As you wrestled the gloves back on, you locked eyes with the poster Sephiroth. That stupid, benevolent smile: he knew what you had just purchased. 

You scowled at him.

---

J - 180 - L - 9177 hadn’t grown after your last split. You tilted the plate; a few lonely cells slid to the bottom, sloshing helplessly around in their media. The cells seemed to have gone dormant again.

You didn’t have an excuse to dose these cells with mako tonight, but you suspected that mako had made them grow. It was hard to tell if they were consuming a normal food source in its absence. Did they need the liquid media for anything more than electrolytes? Could it even be hurting them?

You chewed the inside of your cheek and set the plate down. 

What if the cells had a steady supply of mako, rather than fresh liquid media? 

You tapped one gloved finger against the fume hood bench in a nervous staccato. The chemists weren’t even close to characterizing all of mako’s components. Did it even have the ingredients to support life? Was there more to mako than what it did to SOLDIERs?

Would J - 180 - L - 9177  continue to grow until the cells starved each other out? 

Or would they fight for resources, like frightened rats in a cage?

Would they—

“Still here?”

You looked up. Sephiroth had just poked his head around the corner. His gloved hand lingered on the doorframe, as if you had caught him mid-movement. 

You blinked. Your head felt fuzzy, like an old car trying to shift gears. You were still stuck on  J - 180 - L - 9177. As you continued to stare at him, he turned his head just so, as if silently asking again: Still here?

You stammered.“You…you came back? Here?”

His eyes flashed like he was about to laugh, but he cleared his throat instead. He slunk into the doorframe. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. “I live here,” he said.

“Oh.” You waved one hand around inside the hood.  “No, what I…what I meant was that you’re, um. Not…don’t you have, like, a mission?”

He stepped closer to you. He wore the standard SOLDIER turtleneck under his uniform coat. “I’ll be out of HQ in ten hours. Or...” He fished around in his pocket for his phone and glanced at the screen. “Nine hours now.”

You looked up at him, tapping the edge of the hood. “And you’re visiting me?”

Sephiroth pocketed his phone with a guilty smile. “Is now not a good time?”

How you hated that effect he had on you; how you hated his soft voice. How you wanted to fall into his arms. “It’s a fine time,” you breathed.

“Should I wait here for you?”

“Yeah, you…you can sit?” You nodded towards the spare chair: the one that was a little too small for him. “Like. Only if you want.”

You turned back to the cells, but you were focused on Sephiroth’s breathing, the shift of his clothing, his footsteps on the tile. It was as if he had grabbed your attention out of the air, like it was some tangible thing. He didn’t reach for the other chair; instead, his footsteps stopped somewhere to your right. 

You had just ejected fresh media onto the plate when something brushed the back of your neck. 

You gasped, hand flying to your skin, but there was nothing there. 

You looked up at Sephiroth, who had now withdrawn his hand. The two of you stared at each other for a heavy moment. Your cheeks burned.

He tilted his head. “Did I startle you?”

“There are cameras in this lab,” you said. You turned away from him and sprayed your hands with isopropyl alcohol again.

“Not here,” he replied. He was right: the cell culture room was a blind spot in Hojo’s kingdom. Had it not been, your secret cultures might have been found weeks ago.

“I…don’t know why I said that.” You stuck your hands back in the fume hood. You looked up at his confused face, his bemused smile. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to jump.”

His brow smoothed over with obvious relief. “You can tell me if you don’t want me to touch you.”

Your mouth twisted; you felt admonished. “Yeah, I know.”

“Was it bad?” That gentle, conspiratorial tone again, the very same one that you pictured Be good in. He didn’t have to put a finger on you, and you felt like he was touching you again. 

You smiled, then tried to stop smiling, then smiled anyway. “Just didn’t expect it.” You loaded a fresh glass pipette, set to mixing the fresh media. You tried to angle the plate away from him, so he wouldn’t see those strange gray cells. 

He didn’t seem to notice. “But did you enjoy it?”

You sheathed the used pipette in its plastic wrapping and threw it into the sharps. It felt good to feel him on you, albeit through his gloves. If you had been able to see him coming, you would’ve welcomed the touch. 

But no: if you had seen him reach for you, you would’ve shied away, too. 

Worry bubbled up in your mind. What did it mean when you wanted something— wanted something small, tender, even less than what you two had already shared— and still felt afraid of it? What were you supposed to do now? 

Metal, grass—

You capped the plate and updated the label.

He asked, “Is that a no?”

“I, um, actually don’t…don’t know?”

“Then I’ll ask an easier question.” He leaned against the bench to your right and crossed his arms. “Would you like me to do it again?”

Yes, you thought, with not a little guilt. Again.

“I…” 

You stared at the cell plate. You twiddled the marker between your index and thumb: a leftover tic from undergrad. Sephiroth said nothing. You could feel his eyes on you. 

Was there a right answer? Was the right answer yes?

When you looked up to meet his eye, he tilted his head. He didn’t seem at all upset with you.

You slowly capped the pen and nodded. You were rewarded when the corner of Sephiroth’s mouth quirked upwards, just so.

You tossed the marker into the hood. “Let me just…let me clean up. Please?”

“You don’t have to ask,” he replied, and your breath hitched at the memory that dug up. He gave no indication that he noticed the connection, unless— and maybe this was just your imagination— his eyes really had darted to the floor for a half-second. He backed away and stood in the doorframe again.

Your hands trembled as you tidied up after yourself; you avoided his eyes. The plates were sealed and labeled; you emptied the sharps bin into the larger, sturdier box below the fume hood. The plastic around the glass pipettes waved gently in the hood, and heaven help you, you thought of the stupid stockings. You thought of them, still in their stupid box on your stupid kitchen counter in your stupid home, and you had the wild, stupid urge to talk about them. Hey, I remembered you liked my tights for some reason, I was desperate enough to buy fetish tights for you, please fuck me again?

You put the plates in the incubator, careful to sandwich J - 180 - L - 9177 between your human cell plates until they were out of Sephiroth’s view.

You removed your gloves and threw them into the biohazard bin. Sephiroth took a step forward, but you said, “Wait,” and you draped your lab coat over the back of the chair. He put his hands behind his back as you approached him, looking like a patient student waiting his turn to speak. He looked like he was trying not to laugh. Desire flared in you.

You stopped in front of him, wringing your hands.

What now?

“Um,” you said. His chest was in front of you. You didn’t want to touch: didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, force your desire on him. “What…?”

He leaned forward. You could see his long hair spilling over his shoulder out of the corner of your eye. “Yes?”

“Can I hold you?” you whispered.

“Oh,” he sighed. “You—“

Just as you were about to back away and apologize, he reached to you. Ever-so-tenderly, he gathered you into his arms. You buried your face in his chest and found yourself impeded by the leather straps there; you rested your head to the side of them. His uniform smelled of fresh leather and sweat. You brushed your cheek against his pectoral muscle. He felt just as good as you remembered. The turtleneck was scratchy under your skin.

Still hesitant, still feeling desperate and wanting, you snaked your hands around his waist and squeezed. You felt him press his nose to the top of your head.

Everything in your mind went silent.

You held each other like this for several minutes, not speaking. You searched the cell chart on the wall in front of you, traced its familiar diagrams of Best Sterile Practice and Parts of the Cell and Media Handling. Sephiroth’s body felt surreal under you, as if you had never touched him before this. His breathing was so steady, his heartbeat thundering under your cheek.

This is real, you thought. This is real.

Was this the same man you had seen on your screen? How could it be? You remembered Sephiroth’s lost expression on the talk show, the way the audience laughed at him. You turned your head towards his coat lapel, ran your fingers over its outside until— yes— you felt the outline of the honeybee over the leather. It was still hiding there, flush against the turtleneck.

“Your heart is racing,” he said into your hair.

You shoved the sorry down into the pit of your belly, right there with the horrible nightmare and the defaced poster and the guilt. “Nervous.”

“About?”

You remembered Hojo’s e-mail from earlier in the week: the perfect excuse. You rolled your eyes against his chest. “I’m presenting to the department early this year,” you groaned. 

“Mm?” You could hear the smile in his voice. He seemed happy to just hold you and feel you talk against him. You weren’t even sure if he was listening; you continued anyway.

“Hojo told me he’s getting his yearly review after. Remember the e-mail? Apparently I should make him look good.”

“Are you not excited to do so?” He released you, hands lingering on your shoulders. His tone dripped with sarcasm as he simpered: “Doesn’t that simply delight you?”

“Ugh!” You looked up at the ceiling in mock offense. Sephiroth laughed. “No!” you said. “I’d rather die.”

“Professor, I am simply so disappointed in your work this quarter.”

You jumped and looked beyond Sephiroth’s shoulder. The doorway behind you two was empty. The lab doors hadn’t opened. Wasn’t Hojo home by now? 

You met Sephiroth’s eyes with alarm, but he was still smiling. He opened his mouth:

“I truly believed I could use you to make a nice bonus for myself.”

Sephiroth was speaking, but it was Hojo’s voice leaving his lips. 

You widened your eyes at him. “Huh?”

“I needed that for my second home in Costa del Sol.” The impression was flawless; you couldn’t hear his voice through it. He must have noticed your shock, because he smirked down at you. “And now you’ve RUINED IT.”

You stared at him.

And then you started to laugh.

“I don’t find the matter of my finances amusing,” Sephiroth snapped in Hojo’s voice.

“Oh. My god.” You couldn’t stop laughing. “Stop.”

“What ever will I do?” Sephiroth cried, gently shaking your shoulders. You snorted as you tried to catch your breath from laughing. “I’ll have to vacation in Junon!”

“Stop, stop!” 

“Like some commoner!”

You giggled and pushed against his chest. “Seph! That’s horrible!”

“What a shame,” Sephiroth purred. Hearing his voice again was a sharp relief. “I practiced just for you.”

“Please never ever do that again.” you gasped, swiping at the tears in your eyes. “It was. So scary.”

“I told you,” he said, “A force to be reckoned with.” He ran a thumb over your lips. “Finally,” he  mock-whispered. “She respects me.”

“Shush.” You stood on your tiptoes to peck him on the mouth. He hummed with pleasure underneath you. The sound made you shiver.

You waited until he opened his eyes again. “I’ve always respected you.”

The corner of his mouth quirked. He was looking at you so gently. “I know,” he breathed.

You tried to kiss him again, but he leaned away. Fear and disappointment surged through you until you saw his expression: still gentle, still focused on you. 

His voice was rough: “Save it for this weekend.”

You blinked. What if he didn’t want you to kiss him? 

Your stomach dropped. Had you done something wrong? You reviewed the way you had kissed him: too messy, perhaps? Too needy? You had a habit of being too much, after all. A mistake, then.

What you said was, “Okay.”

He chuckled. “Don’t sound so disappointed.” He rested a hand on your shoulder as he turned away. “I just don’t want to lead you on.”

“What does that mean?” you said to his back.

“What I said,” he said over his shoulder. He was still smiling at you as he disappeared around the corner. “Friday night. When we’re alone.”

“Wait!”

His voice carried across the lab. “Be good.”

“What—“

The lab doors opened and closed: thundering, final. Your arms still hung in midair, wrapped around nothing. 

Your voice echoed in the cell culture room. “What does that mean?” 

It was hard not to see malice in his smile. He was probably making fun of you after all. 

You gathered your lab coat. Your name was embroidered in mako blue under the Shinra logo; you ran your fingers over the stitching. 

With your luck, you’d come back to his apartment and find him standing there with all of SOLDIER and Shinra Biochemistry laughing at you. “Surprise!” he’d say. The banner above his head would say, You fell for it! You winced as you put your coat back on. Everyone would jeer at you in your outfit, in your crotchless tights, and you’d cry and run home barefoot and they’d laugh harder. 

Something in you hardened. You balled your fists at your side. “The tights are for you,” you said to yourself. He didn’t have a clue.

He also didn’t know that you were terrified.

---

Friday was overcast. On your way back from the office kitchenette, you heard a commotion near the elevators. The excited shouting was loud enough to cut through the glass between your cubicles and the 64th floor.

You craned your neck to look through the glass. A few scientists leaned over to join you.

Nothing happened at first: the 64th floor bustled as usual. A few people sat in the lounge near the escalators, staring at their tablets or talking over coffee or hunched over their phones.

Their heads turned in unison to the elevators. Confusion showed on their faces: they were looking at something specific.

One-by-one, their expressions turned to horror.

Genesis stormed past, holding his nose with a bitter expression. The fans trailing behind him seemed oblivious to his foul mood. The lounge employees stood.

You could make out bandaging under his fingers. The scientists near you murmured.

His nose had been broken, and he was trying to hide it.

He turned his head and glared at you through the glass. There was bruising under his left eye.

Your blood ran cold. A few steps later, and he was gone.

Go to next chapter >>>

[lilmerh]

for the choose violence ask game:

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about 

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Already answered 12, so I'll just do 8. It's been a while since I watched/read these things, so my memory is a bit rusty :/

[The Owl House]

-That Evelyn & Caleb are all that interesting lol. They practically took over the fandom (/hyperbole) when those portraits of them were showed, but I've never once found them that fun to think about. I don't know what it is that's grabbing other people and not me, but I just have zero thoughts about these people.

At least Belos is a fun character, so some fanart exploring him and Caleb's relationship is enjoyable, but other than his relation to Belos, IDC about Caleb. I care about Evelyn even less, and never cared about her being a Clawthorne either.

We got like, 2 minutes max of screentime of these guys, and 90% of it is just photos of them. We didn't even get to know them as characters. There's barely anything to talk about with them

-I don't think everyone is wrong about this (so doesn't really belong on this question?), but that Amity &/or Hunter are autistic. I don't necessarily disagree with this opinion, I just never picked up on that myself. I've seen people call them "autism coded" and I'm like "...where?" If I went looking for posts abt it, I'm sure I could get on board w/ it though

-Any romantic ship with Willow bc that girl is aromantic (Dana told me herself /j)

[Nevermoor]

That Ezra Squall is in any way good or redeemable. This is a divisive opinion in the fandom itself, so not "everyone", but as it stands in the series, I am nottt on board with this yet. If that's the direction Jess wants to take the story, I trust her to do a good job with it, but from what we've been presented of Ezra so far, I don't think he is good nor will become good.

I found the split between "Ezra the boy" and "Ezra the monster" and if those lines blur pretty fun to read, and I'm curious to find out if he has any motivations for the massacre (or any of the other stuff he did) besides power hunger. If it turns out he's just been unfairly villianized, manipulated, or just misunderstood, it'd have to be really well written or I'd be disappointed lol. I simply find him more fun as a villian

[The Walking Dead]

Prolly weird to bring this up out of nowhere, since I don't think I've ever spoken about it on Tumblr, but I am indeed a TWD fan.

Shane is a bitch ass motherfucker and not remotely fun to watch. Every second he's on screen he's nothing but a pain in the ass. I love Rick, so whenever he and Rick are arguing (which is constantly), I just want him to SHUTTT UPPPPPP. He keeps wanting to control the group in ways I hated, and is a bit too content with killing people to meet the ends. (For example, when he shoots a guy he's out on a supply run with JUST so the zombies will stop and eat him and let Shane run away?? He could'a just shot them when he'd gotten back on the bus, but nah, he had to kill his companion and wasn't even honest about it to the rest of the group.)

Some people say Rick is like this too, but he doesn't truly get murderous until several seasons of being the leader of a survivor group in a zombie apocalypse. And whenever he gets content with killing people, it's not framed as a good thing, it's a consequence of the stress, hurt, and lack of trust that builds up in the apocalypse. Rick is at his best when he's extending a hand to other survivors. Shane didn't even make it past S2 before being okay with unnecessary killing.

(Do note that sometimes, Rick killing people is a good thing. For example, when a group of men attacked the fam and one man attempted to rape Rick's son, to which he proceeded to rip out one man's throat with his teeth. That was quite cool of him.)

People who like Shane tend to also be unfairly judgemental of Lori, in my experience. Either because she started a relationship with him while being married or because she later wanted to end that relationship.

She started a relationship with him because she believed her husband was dead. Shane was even the one who told her he was. In her eyes, she was single again. It's fine of her to have sex with any other man at this point, and to slowly start viewing him as family, even letting him get close to her son.

When her thought-to-be-dead husband waltzes up to the survivor group, very much alive, though, it's reasonable she would want to be in a relationship with her husband again. It is also reasonable that she doesn't want her apocalypse fling to be a father figure to her son when his actual father turned out to be alive. She isn't unreasonable for ending the relationship with Shane, nor for not wanting him to act as Carl's father anymore. Shane doesn't have any right to act as the father to her son.

There may be other reasons to criticise her (she died pretty early on and I haven't seen TWD in a while so IDK) but if anyone criticizes her for either of these reasons they r wrong <3

Conclusion: Shane was an infuriating character and I'm glad he died